Francis Bacon was an early modern English philosopher, polymath, and statesman. He was born in London on January 22, 1561. His father, Sir Nicholas Bacon, was the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, an important government office. His mother, Anne, was the daughter of humanist scholar and teacher Anthony Cooke, so she was highly educated in languages and the classics. She was also deeply religious. She became a scholar in her own right and corresponded with Bacon closely throughout her life in letters informed by her education and religious conviction.

Bacon’s schooling focused mostly on a medieval curriculum with a Scholastic framework but would have been influenced by Renaissance humanist and classical concerns. His education was conducted mostly in Latin, the language in which he wrote Novum Organum. Bacon ultimately combined his parents’ paths, becoming a statesman like his father but also a scholar like his mother, with his own strong convictions. Novum Organum is a scholarly work, but it also advocates for science’s place in civic affairs, particularly through the power of inventions.

Bacon was plagued by ill-health and debt problems throughout his life, having inherited less than expected. He sought civic employment that would fund him and enable him to pursue his aims: furthering knowledge and serving his country and religion.