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Sir Francis Bacon Sir Francis Bacon was born in The Strand, England on January 22, 1561 into a wealthy family. He was the youngest of two brothers. His father was the keeper of the seal, and his mother was the daughter of a humanist named Anthony Cooke. He completed his studies in Trinity College, Cambridge at age 12. “His studies were held in Latin, focusing on arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, grammar, music theory, logic, and rhetoric.” <“Francis Bacon.” Famous Scientists. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.> Aristotelian thought dominated his studies. As an adult, he would become a parliamentarian and a philosopher. Bacon agreed with medieval philosophers that humans can interpret things with their five senses. However, knowing that we can interpret things wrongly, Bacon insisted that we must doubt everything before assuming its truth. Bacon was also convinced that, even though it was formidable, the thinking of Aristotle was preventing science from advancing. Thus, he set out to create a means of going beyond Aristotle’s thought and creating a framework for critical thinking based on observation and induction: The Scientific Method. Early followers of Bacon, such as Robert Boyle, furthered science. The Scientific Method enabled scientists and philosophers to move beyond Aristotelian thinking and established a foundation for empirical reasoning that allowed for scientific advances. Towards the end of his life, he was appointed Viscount of St Alban. During the time he had that title, he was accused of bribery. He was placed in jail with a fine of “40,000 heft pounds” <"Francis Bacon." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 14 Jan. 2015. Web. 03 May 2017.>, but released afterwards. He continued his life in solitude, with the removal of his titles of parliament, until he died in Highgate, England, in 1626. Bacon published a book called the "Novum Organum" which entails the basis of the Scientific Method as a means of observation and induction. In contrast, Aristotelian thought began with laws that were pre-defined through logical deduction to explain natural phenomenon. Aristotle would use deduction, going from general observations to the specific conclusions. The conclusions that people often derived, using Aristotle’s approach, were defective. This was because these conclusions were not based on actual natural phenomenon. However, while Aristotle’s approach was based only on the natural world and clearly led to incorrect conclusions, his approach had a tyrannical rule over the world of science, thwarting its development. “Aristotle, Plato, and other classical thinkers including Pythagoras mixed scientific ideas with religious concepts” (Famous Scientists), creating a kind of orthodoxy of thought that also hindered the objective scientific innovation. In contrast to Aristotle, Bacon’s Scientific Method was based on three beliefs. The first belief was that nature is stubborn to give up her secrets. To unlock those secrets required hard work and vigorous interrogation, or observation. The second belief was that from these specific observations of nature, you could form hypothesis to explain general phenomenon. This approach to understanding the world is called induction. Lastly, Bacon called for rigorous experimentation and critical analysis to validate these hypothesizes and the conclusions they led to. This was a revolutionary approach, and was as far removed from Aristotle as one could get. It is because this was not based on laws and rules developed logically but separately from the actual world. Secondly, this was also an approach based completely on the separation of thought and religion. The conclusions drawn by the Scientific Method were always based on the real world, rather than an ideal world. As revolutionary as it seems, the Scientific Method is not a complete means to understanding the world around us. There are many phenomenon in the world that cannot be explained through induction, hypothesis, and natural observation done in the Scientific Method. The Scientific Method cannot explain the miracles that are described in the bible, such as the birth of Jesus Christ and his resurrection, and Jesus feeding the five thousand with only a few fish and loaves of bread and being able to have leftovers. It also cannot explain how the Seahawks won the Super Bowl. These phenomena can only be explained through faith, and in the case of the Seahawks winning, luck, passion, and grit. There is no room for faith, luck, or chance in the Scientific Method, as it is entirely based on material facts. Bacon’s focus on material facts and observations was a reaction to how Aristotelian thought had become a quasi-religion. At the time, it was needed to open people’s minds to the true source of natural law. However, even the Scientific Method can itself become a quasi-religion and tyrannical if one does not balance it out with the acknowledgment of miracles and other phenomenon that can be explained through faith and the higher being.