Thomas Jefferson said the three greatest minds that ever lived were Francis Bacon, John Locke and Isaac Newton. While most of us are familiar with the last two, few of us know much about Francis Bacon. This course will introduce students to the man who—at least until the early 20th century—was considered the philosophical father of modern science. Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin—virtually all scientists from the 1620s through the 1880s—believed that it was Bacon's introduction of the inductive method that made their successes possible. This course will look not only at Bacon's life and thought, but also his fame and subsequent fall from the philosophical pantheon in which he was once a prominent member.