Having a name like Francis Bacon would be hard to live with in the 21st Century. Fortunately in the 17th century such names didn’t rank as unusual, which I guess explains why he never suffered any ill effects at school - he wasn’t emotionally damaged through childhood name calling. Despite his name, Francis Bacon became the father of modern science.
Most of us have heard the courageous saying, “To save your own bacon”, which is generally understood to mean some kind of self-preservatory act. Unfortunately, Francis never managed to save his own.
Francis was a philosopher, lawyer and scientist. The first two hobbies didn’t represent any physical danger, but the last did. Francis wasn’t content with mere observation and theory, he wanted to test his thoughts in practice.
In the winter of 1632 he was traveling by coach past a snowy field and came up with the novel idea that freezing food might well preserve it. At that moment he ordered the coach to stop by a farm so he could purchase a live chicken. He immediately slaughtered the chook and began stuffing it with snow (you can only image what the cab driver thought). This little escapade caused him to catch pneumonia and die. However, his scientific experiment has led to the death and freezing of billions of chickens worldwide. I have one in the freezer.
What’s the point of this story? In the 19th and 20th century a divorce grew between the acts of science and the thinking of philosophy - science came to be regarded as the final answer to all human inquiry. However as early as the 1970’s articles were beginning to appear suggesting that the end of science may indeed be near. It wasn’t that scientific enquiry would stop, but rather the realisation that science wasn’t the only “true” knowledge. Subsequently, since the 1980’s, there has been a resurgence in religious and philosophical exploration.
Philosophy, religious experience and scientific enquiry are the three legs of a balanced stool. All three seek to understand the universe and the reality into which we have been born, live and die. Deny any one of them and we wobble as a society and as individuals.
Throughout history intelligent and educated people have understood that religion and philosophy have set forth questions, experiences and possible answers concerning the mysteries of life. The role of science, or natural philosophy, was to provide proof. The great tragedy in recent history, is that rather than respecting one another they have become competitors.
In his book, “The Story of Philosophy” the modern philosopher William Durant wrote, “Science tells us how to heal and how to kill; it reduces the death rate in retail and then kills us in wholesale war; but only wisdom ... can tell us when to heal and when we should kill.”
Bacon was a creative philosopher, engaged scientist and committed theist. In living harmoniously with all three he taught us to think creatively, observe honestly, experiment radically, and freeze chickens effectively.
Philosophy, science and faith - equally required gifts of God.
Digby Wilkinson 2009