Scientific Works
Throughout
his philosophical works, Bacon presented the rationale for his new
scientific method that relied on carefully documented observation
and systematic experimentation based on inductive reasoning.
It was in Part III of Bacon's great scheme
of knowledge - the 'Instauratio Magna' - that he planned to set
forth six representative studies of the natural world to demonstrate
how his new scientific method should be applied. During his
lifetime, only two of his studies were completed and published:
Historici Naturalis
et Experimentalis ad Condendam Philosophiam: sive, Phaenomena Universiti
('Historia Ventorum', 1622) and Historici
Vitae et Mortis (1623). Bacon's secretary,
William Rawley, decided to publish an incomplete study of the dense
and the rare, Historia Densi et Rari,
as an addendum to a 1658 edition of Opuscula
Varia Pofthuma, Philosophica, Civilia Et Theologica.
Sylva
Sylvarum (1626) was
Bacon's most popular and accessible scientific work. Written
in English, it is a curious collection of natural history facts
and observations gleaned from modern and ancient writers, and as
such, it is an important compilation of concepts held by the populace
of the day. Bacon was still working on the volume at the time
of his death, so it is unclear if he intended the work to be included
in Part III of the 'Instauratio Magna', or if he was just pulling
together material to be considered for classification and/or experimentation.
Illustration from a 1638
edition of Histoiria de Ventis (G109) - click
to see the full-sized image
In addition to his
visionary advocation for an academy of science, Bacon's major contributions
to science were his insistences on both careful observation and
systematic experimentation. His concepts would be taken up
and applied by future generations of British scientists freed from
the confining structures of preconceived theories, popular prejudice
and dogma.
*For the bibliographic
citations for the sources which inform the short article above,
see Sources Consulted.
