Sir Francis Bacon and Doubt

Sir Francis Bacon, born in 1561 in London, is known as a philosopher, a statesman, an essayist, and a champion of modern science. 

Bacon was born into a family with connections at court. Unfortunately, as a young man, he criticized Queen Elizabeth's tax levy, so he fell out of favor with the royals.

After Elizabeth was succeeded by James I, he got back in favor with the new King. He was named the Lord Chancellor in 1618, but he ruined that by accepting bribes. He was convicted in 1621, and banned from political office for the rest of his life.

Despite all the politics, at heart, he was an intellectual. One of his key beliefs was in opposition to the widely-accepted view of Aristotle that knowledge should begin with universal truths. 

Bacon said, "If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties."

In his Novum Organum (1620), he wrote that scholars should build their knowledge of the world from specific, observable details. Bacon has been called the father of empiricism. His theory is now known as the scientific method and is the basis of all experimental science.