大学英语课件ofstudy.doc

Francis Bacon Of Studies （弗朗西斯培根的论学习）Francis Bacon Of Studies （弗朗西斯培根的论学习）这是英国语言大师培根（ 1561-1626 ）的一篇随笔，文字精炼，含义深邃。 Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight, is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgement and disposition of business. 读书足以怡情，足以傅彩，足以长才。其怡情也，最见于独处幽居之时；其傅彩也，最见于高谈阔论之中；其长才也，最见于处世判事之际。 For ecpert and execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, oneby one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best form those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgement wholly by their rules, is thehumour of a scholar. 练达之士虽能分别处理细事或一一判别枝节，然纵观统筹，全局策划， 则舍好学深思者莫属。读书费时过多易惰，文采藻饰太盛则矫，全凭条文断事乃学究故态。 They perfect nature, and are perfectec by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need proyning by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. 读书补天然之不足，经验又补读书之不足，盖天生才干犹如自然花草，读书然后知如何修剪移接，而书中所示，如不以经验范之，则又大而无当。 Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation. 有一技之长者鄙读书，无知者羡读书，唯明智之士用读书，然书并不以用处告人，用书之智不在书中，而在书外，全凭观察得之。 Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. 读书时不可存心诘难读者，不可尽信书上所言，亦不可只为寻章摘句，而应推敲细思。 Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books; else distilled books are, like common distilled waters, flashy things. 书有可浅尝者，有可吞食者，少数则须咀嚼消化。换言之，有只需读其部分者，有只须大体涉猎者，少数则须全读，读时须全神贯注，孜孜不倦。书亦可请人代读，取其所作摘要，但只限题材较次或价值不高者，否则书经提炼犹如水经蒸馏，淡而无味。 Reading maketh a full man ； conference a ready man; andwriting an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little ， he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not. maketh: make 的第三人称用法 ready: 即 ready-witted ，指敏于思考的能力。 doth: do 的第三人称单数用法 读书使人充实，讨论使人机智，笔记使人准确。因此不常做笔记者须记忆力特强，不常讨论者须天生聪颖，不常读书者须欺世有术，始能无知而显有知。 Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtile; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. Abeunt studia in morse. 读史使人明智，读诗使人灵秀，数学使人周密，科学使人深刻，伦理学使人庄重，逻辑修辞之学使人善辩；凡有所学，皆成性格。 Nay there is no stand or impendiment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies: like as diseases of the body may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting for the lungs and breast; gentle walking for the stomach; riding for the head; and the like. So if a mans wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his witbe called away never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study theschoolmen; for they are cymini sectores. If he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers cases. So every defectof the mind may have a special receipt. 人之才智但有滞碍，无不可读适当之书使之顺畅，一如身体百病，皆可借相宜之运动除之。滚球利睾肾，射箭利胸肺，慢步利肠胃，骑术利头脑，诸如此类。如智力不集中，可令读数学，盖演题需全神贯注，稍有分散即须重演；如不能辩异，可令读经院哲学，盖是辈皆吹毛求疵之人；如不善求同，不善以一物阐证另一物，可令读律师之案卷。如此头脑中凡有缺陷，皆有特效可医。Mottos by Bacon(培根格言录）Beauty is as summer fruits, which are easy to corrupt, and cannot last; and for the most part it makes a dissolute youth, and an age a little out of countenance 美犹如盛夏的水果，是容易腐烂而难保持的，世上有许多美人，她们有过放荡的青春，却迎受着愧悔的晚年。Natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience.天生的能力好像天然生成的植物，必须通过学习加以修整；然而学习本身如若不由实践去约束，必然方向纷杂而漫无目的。Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set 美德好比宝石，在朴素背景的衬托下反而更华丽。Lord Francis Bacon,(1561-1626)the father of experimental philosophy, whose father had been Lord Keeper, and himself was a great many years Lord Chancellor under King James I. Nevertheless, amidst the intrigues of a Court, and the affairs of his exalted employment (Because of bribery and extortion he was sentenced by the House of Lords to pay a fine of about four hundred thousand French livres, to lose his peerage and his dignity of Chancellor.), which alone were enough to engross his whole time, he yet found so much leisure for study as to make himself a great philosopher, a good historian, and an elegant writer; and a still more surprising circumstance is that he lived in an age in which the art of writing justly and elegantly was little known, much less true philosophy. Lord Bacon, as is the fate of man, was more esteemed after his death than in his lifetime. His enemies were in the British Court, and his admirers were foreigners.Francis Bacon(15611626) was the founder of English materialist philosophy(唯物主义哲学) He was born into the family of Sir Nicholas Bacon, keeper of the Privy Seal(御玺) to Queen Elizabeth The boy early won the favor of the Queen He went to Cambridge at twelve and after graduating at sixteen, took up law He soon became one of the most successful lawyers of the time At twenty-three he became a member of the House of Commons(下议院) and his judgment and eloquence(口才) made him famous When James I came to England， Bacon obtained one important office after another until he became lord Chancellor(大法官) and was made a peer (nobleman) in 1618 He was an admirable judge, but in the course of rising he had made enemies who charged him with bribery (受贿) He was convicted (判罪) deprived (免去) of his office, fined and banished (流放) from London in 1621 Five years later, he died in disgrace (耻辱)Francis Bacon, lawyer, statesman, philosopher and master of English tongue, is famous not only for his philosophical works, but also for his essaysIn 1597 he published a collection of ten essays, which were afterwards increased to fifty-eight, including the well-known one “On Reading”, whose title is actually “Of Studies” These essays cover a wide variety of subjects, such as love, truth, friendship, parents and children, beauty, studies, youth and age and many others They have won popularity for his clearness, brevity (简短) and force of expression Many of his sentences have become wise old sayings“Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark,”“Reading makes a full man; conference a ready(敏捷的) man, and writing an exact man”培根被认为是现代科学时代的始祖。他是第一个意识到科学技木能够改造世界面貌的哲学家，热情支持实验科学研究。 l561年，培棍生于伦敦。他是英国伊丽莎白女王时代一 高级职员的长子。12岁入剑桥大学三一学院，但不久离开 那里，没有获得大学毕业证书。16岁开始工作，随英国驻注大 使去巴黎在使馆工作过一段时间。18岁时父亲去世，没留下什么钱，培根被迫去上学学习法律。21岁开始从事律师业。23岁时被选为英国下议院议员。伊丽莎白女王向议会 提出增加税收计划，培根表示反对通过这个提案，女王因而讨厌培根，培根成了伊西克斯的朋友和参谋。伊西克斯是个贪婪的贵族分子，同情培根，他决定发动反对伊丽莎白女王的政变。 培根劝告他应该忠于女王，但伊西克斯不听，政变以失败而告终。因为培根在伊西克斯受审及被判死刑一案中起了某种作用，致使各阶层人民对培根有些不满情绪。 1603年，伊丽莎白女王去世，培根当上继任国王詹姆斯一世的顾问，虽然詹姆斯世没有受培根劝言的约束，但却很喜欢他。因此在詹姆斯一世执政期间，培根平步青云，节节高升，1617年担任掌玺大臣，1618年就任大法官，1620 年受封为子爵。 不期灾难降临了。培根被指控受贿，其实受贿在当时已是司空见惯，绝非新鲜，但培根在议会里的劲敌抓住这个机会，将他赶出了官场。培根对受贿供认不讳，被判在伦敦塔坐牢，交付大批罚金，终生禁止做官。但国王释放了他，免除了他的罚金，培根只不过丧失了政治生命。培根这样评论议会决定：“我是英国50年来最公正的法官，而议会对我的判决是200年来议会所作出的最公正的判决。” 培根的若干著作为他赢得了声誉。他的第一部著作论说文集发表于1597年。这部著作用辛辣评论风格写成，但却闪闪发光，引入入胜，在世界流传极广。即本精品文摘。 培根的最伟大的哲学著作之一名叫伟大的复兴。该著作包括6个部分，已完成的部分有：序言、新工具（对一种 新的逻辑方法的描述）、自然史和实验史概论组体现了作者某些观点及不同风格的科学和哲学沉思录 培根从1605年起开始写作，但没有完成的科学推进论 被认为是自亚里士多德时代以来最伟大的著作。美德好比宝石，在朴素背景的衬托下反而更华丽。同样，一个打扮并不华贵，却端庄严肃而有美德的人是令人肃然起敬的。 美貌的人并不都有其他方面的才能。许多容貌俊秀的人却一无所有，他们过于追求外形的美而放弃了内在的美。 仔细分析起来，形体之美要胜于颜色之美，而优雅行为之美又胜于形体之美。最高的美是画家所无法表现的。因为它是难以直观的。这是一种奇妙的美，曾经有两位画家阿皮雷斯和丢勒滑稽地认为，可以按照几何比例，或者通过摄取不同人身上最美的特点，加以合成的方法，画出最完美的人像。其实像这样画出来的美人，恐怕只有画家才喜欢。有些老人显得很可爱，因为他们的作风优雅而美。“美人的迟暮也是美的。”而尽管有的年轻人具有美貌，却由于缺乏优美的修养而不配得到赞美。 美有如盛夏的水果，而容易腐烂而难保持的,世上有许多美人,他们有过放荡青春，却迎受着愧悔的晚年。 因此，把美的形貌与美的德行结合起来吧。只有这样，美会放射出真正的光辉。弗兰西斯培根（Francis Bacon,1561-1626）英国著名的唯物主义哲学家和科学家。他在文艺复兴时期的巨人中被尊称为哲学史和科学史上划时代的人物。马克思称他是“英国唯物主义和整个现代实验科学的真正始祖。”第一个提出“知识就是力量”的人。一培根生平培根于1561年1月22日出生于伦敦一个官宦世家。父亲尼古拉培根是伊丽莎白女王的掌玺大臣，曾在剑桥大学攻读法律，他思想倾向进步，信奉英国国敦，反对教皇干涉英国内部事物。母亲安尼是一位颇有名气的才女，她娴熟的掌握希腊文和拉丁文，是加尔文教派的信徒。良好的家庭教育使培根成熟较早，各方面都表现出异乎寻常的才智。12岁时，培根被送入剑桥大学三一学院深造。在校学习期间，他对传统的观念和信仰产生了怀疑，开始独自思考社会和人生的真谛。在剑桥大学学习三年后，培根作为英国驻法大使埃米阿斯鲍莱爵士的随员来到了法国，在旅居巴黎两年半的时间里，他几乎走遍了整个法国，接触到不少的新鲜事物，汲取了许多新的思想，这对他的世界观的形成起到了很大的作用。1579年，培根的父亲突然病逝，他要为培根准备日后赡养之资的计划破灭，培根的生活开始陷入贫困。在回国奔父丧之后，培根住进了葛莱法学院，一面攻读法律，一面四处谋求职位。1582年，他终于取得了律师资格，1584年当选为国会议员，1589年，成为法院出缺后的书记，然而这一职位竟长达20年之久没有出现空缺。他四处奔波，却始没有得到任何职位。此时，培根在思想上更为成熟了，他决心要把脱离实际，脱离自然的一切知识加以改革，把经验观察、事实依据、实践效果引入认识论。这一伟大抱负是他的科学的“伟大复兴”的主要目标，是他为之奋斗一生的志向。1602年，伊丽莎白去世，詹姆士一世继位。由于培根曾力主苏格兰与英格兰的合并，受到詹姆士的大力赞赏。培根因此平步青云，扶摇直上。1602年受封为爵士，1604年被任命为詹姆士的顾问，1607年被任命为副检察长，1613年被委任为首席检察官，1616年被任命为枢密院顾问，1617年提升为掌玺大臣，1618年晋升为英格兰的大陆官，授封为维鲁兰男爵，1621年又授封为奥尔本斯子爵。但培根的才能和志趣不在国务活动上，而存在与对科学真理的探求上。这一时期，他在学术研究上取得了巨大的成果。并出版了多部著作1621年，培根被国会指控贪污受贿，被高级法庭判处罚金四万磅，监禁于伦敦塔内，终生逐出宫廷，不得任议员和官职。虽然后来罚金和监禁皆被豁免，但培根却因此而身败名裂。从此培根不理政事，开始专心从事理论著述。1626年3月底，培根坐车经守伦敦北郊。当时他正在潜心研究冷热理论及其实际应用问题。当路过一片雪地时，他突然想作一次实验，他宰了一只鸡，把雪填进鸡肚，以便观察冷冻在防腐上的作用。但由于他身体孱弱，经受不住风寒的侵袭，支气管炎复发，病情恶化，于1626年4月9日清晨病逝。培根死后，人们为怀念他，为他修建了一座纪念碑，亨利沃登爵士为他题写了墓志铭：圣奥尔本斯子爵如用更煊赫的头衔应称之为“科学之光”、“法律之舌”二培根的哲学思想培根的哲学思想是与其社会思想是密不可分的。他是资产阶级上升时期的代表，主张发展生产，渴望探索自然，要求发展科学。他认为是经院哲学阻碍了当代科学的发展。因此他极力批判经院哲学和神学权威。他还进一步揭露了人类认识产生谬误的根源，提出了著名的“四假相说”。他说这是在人心普遍发生的一种病理状态，而非在某情况下产生的迷惑与疑难。第一种是“种族的假相”，这是由于人的天性而引起的认识错误；第二种是“洞穴的假相”是个人由于性格、爱好、教育、环境而产生的认识中片面性的错误；第三种是“市场的假相”，即由于人们交往时语言概念的不确定产生的思维混乱。第四种是“剧场的假相”这是指由于盲目迷信权威和传统而造成的错误认识。培根指出，经院哲学家就是利用四种假相来抹煞真理，制造谬误，从而给予了经院哲学沉重的打击。但是培根的“假相说”渗透了培根哲学的经验主义倾象，未能对理智的本性与唯心主义的虚妄加以严格区别。培根认为当时的学术传统是贫乏的，原因在于学术与经验失去接触。他主张科学理论与科学技术相辅相成。他主张打破“偶像”，铲除各种偏见和幻想，他提出“真理是时间的女儿而不是权威的女儿”，对经院哲学进行了有力的攻击。培根的科学方法观以实验定性和归纳为主。他继承和发展了古代关于物质是万物本源的思想，认为世界是由物质构成的，物质具有运动的特性，运动是物质的属性。培根从唯物论立场出发，指出科学的任务在于认识自然界及其规律。但受时代的局限，他的世界观还具有朴素唯物论和形而上学的特点。三培根的论著1597年，培根发表了他的处女作论说随笔文集 。他在书中将自己对社会的认识和思考，以及对人生的理解，浓缩成许多富有哲理的名言警句，受到广大读者的欢迎。1605年，培根用英语完成了两卷集 论学术的进展 。这是以知识为其研究对象的一部著作，是培根声称要以知识为其领域，全面改革知识的宏大理想和计划的一部份。培根在书中猛烈抨击了中世纪的蒙昧主义，论证了知识的巨大的作用，提示了知识不能令人满意的现状及补救的办法。在这本书中，培根提出一个有系统的科学百科全书的提纲，对后来十八世纪的狄德罗为首的法国百科全书派编写百科全书，起了重大作用。1609年，在培根任副检察长时，他又出版了第三本著作 论古人的智慧 。他认为在远古时代，存在着人类最古的智慧，可以通过对古代寓言故事的研究而发现失去的最古的智慧。培根原打算撰写一部六卷本百科全书式的著作 伟大的复兴 ，这是他要复兴科学，要对人类知识加以重新改造的巨著，但他未能完成预期的计划，只发行了前两部份，1620年出版的 新工具 是该书的第二部份。新工具是培根最重要的哲学著作，它提出了培根在近代所开创的经验认识原则和经验认识方法。这本书与亚里士多德的工具篇是相对立的。培根在结束其政治生涯后，仅用几个月时间就完成了 亨利七世本纪 一书，这部著作得到后世史学家的高度评价，被誉为是“近代史学的里程碑”。大约在1623年，培根写成了新大西岛一书，这是一部尚未完成的乌托邦式的作品，由罗莱在他去逝的第二年首次发表。作者在书中描绘了自己新追求和向往的理想社会蓝图，设计了一个称为“本色列”的国家，在这个国家里，科学主宰一切，这是培根毕业所倡导的科学的“伟大复兴”的思想信念的集中表现。此外，培根在逝世后还留下了许多遗著，后来，由许多专家学者先后整理出版，包括 论事物的本性、迷宫的线索、各家哲学的批判、自然界的大事、论人类的知识等等。四培根在科学史上的地位弗兰西斯培根是近代哲学史上首先提出经验论原则的哲学家。他重视感觉经验和归纳逻辑在认识过程中的作用，开创了以经验为手段，研究感性自然的经验哲学的新时代，对近代科学的建立起了积极的推动作用，对人类哲学史、科学史都做出了重大的历史贡献。为此，罗素尊称培根为“给科学研究程序进行逻辑组织化的先驱”。THE ESSAYS OF FRANCIS BACONhttp:/www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/bacon/http:/www.iep.utm.edu/b/bacon.htmSir Francis Bacon (later Lord Verulam and the Viscount St. Albans) was an English lawyer, statesman, essayist, historian, intellectual reformer, philosopher, and champion of modern science. Early in his career he claimed “all knowledge as his province” and afterwards dedicated himself to a wholesale revaluation and re-structuring of traditional learning. To take the place of the established tradition (a miscellany of Scholasticism, humanism, and natural magic), he proposed an entirely new system based on empirical and inductive principles and the active development of new arts and inventions, a system whose ultimate goal would be the production of practical knowledge for “the use and benefit of men” and the relief of the human condition. At the same time that he was founding and promoting this new project for the advancement of learning, Bacon was also moving up the ladder of state service. His career aspirations had been largely disappointed under Elizabeth I, but with the ascension of James his political fortunes rose. Knighted in 1603, he was then steadily promoted to a series of offices, including Solicitor General (1607), Attorney General (1613), and eventually Lord Chancellor (1618). While serving as Chancellor, he was indicted on charges of bribery and forced to leave public office. He then retired to his estate where he devoted himself full time to his continuing literary, scientific, and philosophical work. He died in 1626, leaving behind a cultural legacy that, for better or worse, includes most of the foundation for the triumph of technology and for the modern world as we currently know it. Table of Contents (Clicking on the links below will take you to those parts of this article)1. Life and Political Career 2. Thought and Writings a. Literary Works b. The New Atlantis c. Scientific and Philosophical Works d. The Great Instauration e. The Advancement of Learning f. The “Distempers” of Learning g. The Idea of Progress h. The Reclassification of Knowledge i. The New Organon j. The Idols k. Induction 3. Reputation and Cultural Legacy 4. References and Further Reading1. Life and Political Career Sir Francis Bacon (later Lord Verulam, the Viscount St. Albans, and Lord Chancellor of England) was born in London in 1561 to a prominent and well-connected family. His parents were Sir Nicholas Bacon, the Lord Keeper of the Seal, and Lady Anne Cooke, daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, a knight and one-time tutor to the royal family. Lady Anne was a learned woman in her own right, having acquired Greek and Latin as well as Italian and French. She was a sister-in-law both to Sir Thomas Hoby, the esteemed English translator of Castiglione, and to Sir William Cecil (later Lord Burghley), Lord Treasurer, chief counselor to Elizabeth I, and from 1572-1598 the most powerful man in England.Bacon was educated at home at the family estate at Gorhambury in Herfordshire. In 1573, at the age of just twelve, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where the stodgy Scholastic curriculum triggered his lifelong opposition to Aristotelianism (though not to the works of Aristotle himself).In 1576 Bacon began reading law at Grays Inn. Yet only a year later he interrupted his studies in order to take a position in the diplomatic service in France as an assistant to the ambassador. In 1579, while he was still in France, his father died, leaving him (as the second son of a second marriage and the youngest of six heirs) virtually without support. With no position, no land, no income, and no immediate prospects, he returned to England and resumed the study of law.Bacon completed his law degree in 1582, and in 1588 he was named lecturer in legal studies at Grays Inn. In the meantime, he was elected to Parliament in 1584 as a member for Melcombe in Dorsetshire. He would remain in Parliament as a representative for various constituencies for the next 36 years.In 1593 his blunt criticism of a new tax levy resulted in an unfortunate setback to his career expectations, the Queen taking personal offense at his opposition. Any hopes he had of becoming Attorney General or Solicitor General during her reign were dashed, though Elizabeth eventually relented to the extent of appointing Bacon her Extraordinary Counsel in 1596.It was around this time that Bacon entered the service of Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex, a dashing courtier, soldier, plotter of intrigue, and sometime favorite of the Queen. No doubt Bacon viewed Essex as a rising star and a figure who could provide a much-needed boost to his own sagging career. Unfortunately, it was not long before Essexs own fortunes plummeted following a series of military and political blunders culminating in a disastrous coup attempt. When the coup plot failed, Devereux was arrested, tried, and eventually executed, with Bacon, in his capacity as Queens Counsel, playing a vital role in the prosecution of the case.In 1603, James I succeeded Elizabeth, and Bacons prospects for advancement dramatically improved. After being knighted by the king, he swiftly ascended the ladder of state and from 1604-1618 filled a succession of high-profile advisory positions:1604 Appointed Kings Counsel.1607 Named Solicitor General.1608 Appointed Clerk of the Star Chamber.1613 Appointed Attorney General.1616 Made a member of the Privy Council.1617 Appointed Lord Keeper of the Royal Seal (his fathers former office).1618 Made Lord Chancellor. As Lord Chancellor, Bacon wielded a degree of power and influence that he could only have imagined as a young lawyer seeking preferment. Yet it was at this point, while he stood at the very pinnacle of success, that he suffered his great Fall. In 1621 he was arrested and charged with bribery. After pleading guilty, he was heavily fined and sentenced to a prison term in the Tower of London. Although the fine was later waived and Bacon spent only four days in the Tower, he was never allowed to sit in Parliament or hold political office again.The entire episode was a terrible disgrace for Bacon personally and a stigma that would cling to and injure his reputation for years to come. As various chroniclers of the case have pointed out, the accepting of gifts from suppliants in a law suit was a common practice in Bacons day, and it is also true that Bacon ended up judging against the two petitioners who had offered the fateful bribes. Yet the damage was done, and Bacon to his credit accepted the judgment against him without excuse. According to his own Essayes, or Counsels, he should have known and done better. (In this respect it is worth noting that during his forced retirement, Bacon revised and republished the Essayes, injecting an even greater degree of shrewdness into a collection already notable for its worldliness and keen political sense.) Macaulay in a lengthy essay declared Bacon a great intellect but (borrowing a phrase from Bacons own letters) a “most dishonest man,” and more than one writer has characterized him as cold, calculating, and arrogant. Yet whatever his flaws, even his enemies conceded that during his trial he accepted his punishment nobly, and moved on.Bacon spent his remaining years working with renewed determination on his lifelong project: the reform of learning and the establishment of an intellectual community dedicated to the discovery of scientific knowledge for the “use and benefit of men.” The former Lord Chancellor died on 9 April, 1626, supposedly of a cold or pneumonia contracted while testing his theory of the preservative and insulating properties of snow.Back to Table of Contents2. Thought and Writings In a way Bacons descent from political power was a fortunate fall, for it represented a liberation from the bondage of public life resulting in a remarkable final burst of literary and scientific activity. As Renaissance scholar and Bacon expert Brian Vickers has reminded us, Bacons earlier works, impressive as they are, were essentially products of his “spare time.” It was only during his last five years that he was able to concentrate exclusively on writing and produce, in addition to a handful of minor pieces: Two substantial volumes of history and biography, The History of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh and The History of the Reign of King Henry the Eighth. De Augmentis Scientiarum (an expanded Latin version of his earlier Advancement of Learning). The final 1625 edition of his Ess