the new organon · bacon

Francis Bacon's New Organon of 1620, meant to replace Aristotle's logic, proposes a new method for the sciences: purge the mind of its idols, gather observations patiently, and rise by induction from particulars to axioms. It is the manifesto of experimental science and of knowledge as power over nature for the relief of man's estate.

Francis Bacon, Selected Philosophical Works, edited by Rose-Mary Sargent (Hackett Publishing, 1999). Read in Junior Spring at Torrey Honors: The Great Instauration; The New Organon, its Preface, Book One, and Book Two 1 to 20 and 52; and the Preparative.