PHILOSOPHER

Francis Bacon

1561 - 1626

Photo of Francis Bacon

Icon of person Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban, 1st Lord Verulam, PC (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued the importance of natural philosophy, guided by scientific method, and his works remained influential throughout the Scientific Revolution. Bacon has been called the father of empiricism. He argued for the possibility of scientific knowledge based only upon inductive reasoning and careful observation of events in nature. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Francis Bacon has received more than 9,963,167 page views. His biography is available in 116 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 113 in 2019). Francis Bacon is the 16th most popular philosopher (down from 14th in 2019), the 8th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 7th in 2019) and the most popular British Philosopher.

Francis Bacon was a philosopher and scientist who is most famous for his work Novum Organum, which was published in 1620. Bacon's work was an attempt to reform the way that knowledge is gained and used.

Memorability Metrics

  • 10M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 85.99

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 116

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 18.03

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.46

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Francis Bacon ranks 16 out of 1,267. Before him are Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Niccolò Machiavelli, Friedrich Nietzsche, Augustine of Hippo, Heraclitus, and Thales of Miletus. After him are Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, Montesquieu, and Democritus.

Most Popular Philosophers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1561, Francis Bacon ranks 1. After him are Jacopo Peri, Luis de Góngora, Santorio Santorio, Katō Kiyomasa, Anna Maria of the Palatinate, Henry Briggs, Ii Naomasa, Fukushima Masanori, Thomas Fincke, Adriaan van Roomen, and Philippe van Lansberge. Among people deceased in 1626, Francis Bacon ranks 1. After him are Nurhaci, Willebrord Snellius, John Dowland, Ernst von Mansfeld, William V, Duke of Bavaria, Adriaen de Vries, Christian the Younger of Brunswick, Isabella of Savoy, Wakisaka Yasuharu, Marino Ghetaldi, and Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Others Born in 1561

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1626

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Francis Bacon ranks 8 out of 8,785. Before him are Adam Smith (1723), William Shakespeare (1564), Charles Darwin (1809), Elizabeth II (1926), Lord Byron (1788), and Charlie Chaplin (1889). After him are Elizabeth I of England (1533), John Locke (1632), Winston Churchill (1874), James Watt (1736), Richard III of England (1452), and Paul McCartney (1942).

Others born in United Kingdom

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among PHILOSOPHERS In United Kingdom

Among philosophers born in United Kingdom, Francis Bacon ranks 1. After him are John Locke (1632), Thomas Hobbes (1588), David Hume (1711), Thomas More (1478), Herbert Spencer (1820), Jeremy Bentham (1748), Roger Bacon (1220), William of Ockham (1285), John Venn (1834), Joseph Priestley (1733), and Duns Scotus (1265).

British born Philosophers

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous