Francis Bacon's New Organon Analysis

This paper will be discuss what Francis Bacon believed was possible by following his reforming of the sciences as discussed in the “New Organon” and he shows this in his novel titled “New Atlantis”. To discuss this I will focus on the section from pages 71-83 which is the section where a Father of Salomon’s House describes to the narrator how Salomon’s house works and what they have achieved there. The paper will be broken into four parts just like it is in the text, the first part will be over the foundation of the House of Salomon, second will be the preparations and the instruments used by the Fathers of Salomons, third I will break down the employment structure used, and finally I will discuss the rights and ordinances used by the House

of Salomon. At the end of each section I will discuss why the sections are ordered this way and what purpose it serves.
As said by the Father of Salomon the foundations of the House of Salomon are “The knowledge of the Causes, and secret motions of thing; and the enlarging of the bounds of the Human Empire, to the effecting of all things possible.

Just by looking at what is said on the surface you can see many comparisons that can be drawn to what Bacon wrote in the New Organon. For example, you can draw a similarity between the knowledge of the causes and Bacon’s second part which is called “Directions concerning the interpretation of nature”. You can see the similarity because in this instance because Bacon’s claims that to interpret nature humans need to go out and learn everything about nature that they can and to do humans should find the causes of things. Next the secret motions of things follows with Bacon’s second part because the House of Salomon is still researching the unknown just like Bacon said should be done. The “enlarging of the Human Empire” follows with Bacon’s view that science and thought should be done to benefit human beings and that is what the House of Salomon is trying to achieve this can be seen by all the advancements they are making in medicine. Finally the House of Salomon is interested in effecting all things because if they are focused on enlarging the Human Empire they need to study everything not just certain topics. This section is put first because it is the groundwork for everything to come, so if the narrator and the reader is going to understand what is to come they need to understand why the House of Salomon does what it

does.
Next I will discuss the instruments used by the House of Salomon and what the purpose is for these instruments. First the Father of Salomon about the Lower region, which is made up of deep caves that are six hundred fathoms deep and in some places under mountains, the distance from the surface being up to three miles. This lower region is used for experimenting on human bodies, the creation of new materials using artificial mines, the curing of diseases and prolongation of life, and experimenting with farming below ground. Through the experimentation of bodies the Fathers of Salomon are able to learn about coagulations, hardening, refrigeration, and conservation of the bodies which assists in the understanding of the human body after death. The Fathers have also studied the ability to create new materials by combining known materials in the artificial mines. Next they are able to study the prolongation of life and the curing of certain diseases by studying hermits that have chosen to live in the lower region. The fathers also experiment with farming underground by using different combinations of composts and soils to make the ground fertile. Next the Father talks about the upper region which has high towers up to half a mile in height, and they uses this area to study atmospheric phenomenon, study of the sun, conservation, and refrigeration. The towers are used to study atmospheric phenomenon which include events such as rain, snow, shooting stars, lightning, and hail. Also there are hermits living in these towers who observe all these occurrences. The middle area is discussed next which is the all area between the deep caves and the tall towers, one section in particular that is in the middle area are great lakes. There are both salt and fresh water lakes that have use of “fish and fowl”. Special pools are found in the lakes, there are some that can convert salt water into fresh water and there are other pools that can convert fresh water into salt water. The Fathers also use this area to study the burial of natural bodies and the difference between being buried in the earth, below the earth in the caves, and bodies buried in water. There are also rocks in the sea and waterfalls and violent streams that are used for study. Powerful machines are used to study and manipulate wind power. Also found in the middle area are artificial wells that saturated with many elements including sulfate, Sulphur, steel, brass, lead, saltpeter, etc. These wells are used to mix new elements. Furthermore water becomes more medically useful quicker and better than is other water containers. This water is called the Water of paradise and it is found to be good for health and it also prolongs life. There are special houses that are used to recreate snow, hail, rain, thunder, lighting, and the generation of bodies such as frogs, flies and many diverse others. Chambers of health cure disease and preserve the health of individuals by manipulating the air quality to be medically beneficial. The Father have also created special baths that strengthen the whole body from the muscles to the muscles and even the blood. These baths also can cure some diseases and restore bodies that have become withered. Large orchards can be found in this area as well that have a variety of trees and herbs, the orchards are more quantity focused instead of quality. Since there is such a wide variety of plants the Fathers are able to make a diverse list of drinks besides the wines made in the vineyard. Through genetic manipulation the Fathers of Salomon are able to create new plants out of already existing plants. The plants can also be manipulated in other ways such as effecting when the plants germinate making the plants bloom at different times in the season. Through this manipulation the fruits can also be altered, the fruits can be made larger, sweeter, taster different, smell different, be a different color, and have a different shape. The plants can also be altered to be more useful for medicine and plants can be manipulated to not have seeds. They can even make one tree or plant turn into a completely different plant. Besides the orchards there were parks dedicated to the study of animals and special pools for similar studies to be done on fish. A wide variety of observations were made on the animals including simple viewings, dissections and trials to learn what happens to the body of man in similar situations. The study of the effects of poison and medicine was also done on the animals. Just like what was done to the plants experiments to alter animals took place. The outcomes of such experiments were things like making the animal taller, making the animal shorter, stopping growth all together, make the animals more fertile or even barren. Experiments were also done to cross breed different species and the animals that were born from these experiments were complex enough to even able to reproduce without assistance from the Fathers. The Fathers were also able to create worms, snakes, fish, and flies out of decaying matter. There were also special areas dedicated for creatures that had a specific use like silkworms and bees. As for food the House of Salomon had large brew houses, bakes houses, and kitchens. In these buildings there was a wide variety of drinks breads and meats. The drinks varied from being wines from grapes to juices from fruits, drinks of grain, and roots. They also mixed the drinks with honey, sugar, manna, and dried and condensed fruits. They also used tree sap and cane pulp. There were some drinks that were aged for up to forty years, other drinks were brewed with several herbs, roots and spices while additional drinks were brewed with meat in them. These substances can be used to provide nutrition to those who want to live with little meat or bread.