Francis Bacon

Bacon, Francis (1561–1626), English philosopher and statesman who held various posts, finally becoming lord chancellor to James I in 1618. In 1621 he was banished from office for taking bribes and spent his last years writing. His most important contribution to philosophy was his advocacy of induction, the process of reasoning from the particular to the general, building theories on the basis of observed fact rather than making predictions from immutable general propositions. In this he was one of the founders of modern experimental science. His philosophical works were compiled in Instauratio Magna (1620).