1620: Francis Bacon’s Novum Organum published [133]

Art Piece: Sketch for “The Discoverer” Fresco, Assembly Chamber, State Capitol, Albany, New York, William Morris Hunt, 1878 [158]

Paper: Meta-research: Evaluation and Improvement of Research Methods and Practices [81]

Francis Bacon’s Novum Organum represented a significantly consequential paradigm shift in how science is conducted. Bacon, a natural philosopher and someone interested in scientific methodologies, discussed in Novum Organum the logic behind science. Notably, Bacon talks of induction and how science is conducted, writing that “[of] induction the logicians seem hardly to have taken any serious thought, but they pass it by with a slight notice, and hasten to the formulae of disputation.” [133] Bacon argues for a more empirical and evidence-based science, one grounded in methodologies of logic and systematic thinking. Bacon also discusses methods for interpreting nature, methods that are both empirical and rational [100]. Though many did science prior to Bacon articulating these theories, this science was more haphazard and less grounded in system methods than the science we are familiar with today. Bacon’s ideas and philosophies marked essentially the first time that it was enumerated explicitly that science should be done in a very empirical manner. Looking at Bacon’s ideas from the perspective of today, it seems obvious to us that science should be empirical and rational — after all, how can science be science if it is not evidence-based? This understanding has not been universal through time, and much of science before Bacon’s empirical ideas had a large component of faith and spirituality, although those components were not significantly grounded in facts or reproducible evidence. Notably, during the Middle Ages and through much of time, people believed in “humors” which impacted an individual’s features and temperament [78]. These humors were not really based in significant empirical study — rather, they stemmed from a place of trying to understand the world and the body without good, effective scientific methodology tools, which resulted in ideas about the body’s functions that were more based in spirituality, or for lack of a better term, based on “vibes.” Bacon’s ideas were therefore a revolution — they suggested that good, effective science must instead be based on facts and a systematic, empirically-based methodology. Bacon’s ideas allowed [60] for the conception of what we now call the modern hypothesis, and also contributed to our modern scientific method. An art piece [158] which really highlights these ideas is the one above, “Sketch for “The Discoverer” Fresco, by William Morris Hunt. This piece depicts what seems to be the titular Discoverer standing tall and high, surrounded by what appears to be other people aiding him on his journey. This is very reminiscent of Bacon’s ideas of empirical and methodical science — the character of the Discoverer could represent now more-modern science, standing stoic yet tall, the people around him — representing new tools such as empiricism, hypothesis-driven research, and systemic methods — aiding the Discoverer on his journey into the unknown to find something new, something that can change the way people see the world in a significant way. Moreover, the scientific paper above [81] also serves as a sort of “Bacon continuation” — the paper discusses ways to improve research practices and methods, which is exactly what Bacon aimed to do with his texts. However, the authors of this paper are equipped with the wonderful tools of modern science, tools though which are great and incredibly useful, can still be improved upon. There is no end to improving the way science is done, and Bacon’s work, in addition to the art piece, and the scientific paper here, exemplify that.