Changing Laws of Nature in Baconian Science

What is it about?

Francis Bacon is known for putting forward a new kind of experimental science, in which technological applications would be central. However, he also introduced the claim that the laws of nature change over time. This idea of changing laws of nature was a combination of scientific and religious concepts, and Bacon refined the idea over the course of over twenty-five years. From the Christian Bible, he derives the notion that God created the world “without forms,” and next, organized the formless chaos into plants and animals, as well as minerals, metals, and so on. The world in which the first humans were created was perfect, with no decay, and no death. However, after the sin of the first humans, the perfect order of the universe was disrupted, and Bacon explains this disruption as a change in the laws of nature. He then takes this basic framework and slowly, over many years, offers various details about how experimental science can help partially restore the lost world, as it was before the Fall. At the end of his career, Bacon’s attention focuses on medicine and the prolongation of life as one key component of his vision of reforming science.

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Photo by Soheb Zaidi on Unsplash

Photo by Soheb Zaidi on Unsplash

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