培根(1561～1626年)
Bacon, Francis
受封为圣艾尔班斯子爵（Viscount St. Albans）
英国政治家和哲学家，也是现代科学方法（scientific method）之父。他是塞西尔的外甥，在剑桥和格雷寄宿学校求学。身为艾塞克斯伯爵的支持者，他在艾塞克斯因背叛受审时转而反对他。在詹姆斯一世在朝时，他稳步升迁，先後成为初级总律师（1607）、总律师（1613）、大法官（1618）。法律判决他接受了自己法庭中那些受审者的贿赂，他被短期监禁，并永远失去公职，最後在债务缠身中死去。身为科学家，他试着把自然科学置於稳固的经验基础之上，而不是让它倚赖古老的权威文句。他的方法始於《新工具论》（1620）。哲学上，他是早期的经验主义者（参阅empiricism），把经验视为知识的唯一来源。他对科学的繁复分类启发了18世纪的法兰西百科全书学者，而他的经验主义启发了19世纪英国的科学哲学家。其他着作包括《学术的进展》（1605）、《亨利七世的历史》（1622）和几种重要的法律及宪法作品。
English version：
1561～1626年
Bacon, Francis
British statesman and philosopher, father of modern scientific method. Nephew of William Cecil, he studied at Cambridge and Gray's Inn. A supporter of the Earl of Essex, he turned against him when Essex was tried for treason. Under James I he rose steadily, becoming successively solicitor general (1607), attorney general (1613), and lord chancellor (1618). Convicted of accepting bribes from those being tried in his court, he was briefly imprisoned and permanently lost his public offices; he died deep in debt. As a scientist, he attempted to put natural science on a firm empirical foundation rather than allow it to rest on citations of ancient authorities. His method was set forth in Novum Organum (1620). Philosophically, he was an early empiricist (see empiricism), considering experience the only source of knowledge. His elaborate classification of the sciences inspired the 18th-century French Encyclopedists, and his empiricism inspired 19th-century British philosophers of science. Other works include The Advancement of Learning (1605), a History of Henry VII (1622), and several important legal and constitutional works.
