英国**的政治家及作家，弗朗西斯·培根，是科学史上一位重要人物。他可以和伟大的科学家如牛顿等相提并论。
培根是**个描述应该如何去从事科学研究和**个解释为什么应该这样进行科学研究的重要思想家。他*重要的贡献是推广了科学实验的方法并对该方法的步骤给出了严格的概述和定义，从而为现代科学的进步奠定了基石。
在这本引人入胜而又通俗易懂的书里，作者详细描述了培根革新的历史背景和其观点的反传统性；解释了培根理论产生的根源以及为什么其改革的思想在今天还能引起共鸣。

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
1 Kindling a Light in Nature
2 Inventing Modern Science
3 Believing That I was Born for the Service of Mankind
4 Being of All Men of My Time the Most Busied in Affairs of State
5 Enlarging of the Bounds of Human Empire：Bacon and Magic
6 Effecting of All Things Possible：Magic and the Experimental Method
7 Seeking for Experiments of Light：Bacon and the Decline of Magic
8 Separating Science and Religion?
9 Restoring lost Dominion：Bacon and the Millennium
10 Building a Model of the World ：Bacon and Utopia
11 Writing Philosophy Like a Lord Chancellor：Bacon and the Bureaucracy of Science
12 Extending the Empire of Man？Bacon，the Law and Mother Nature
13 Leaving It to the Next Ages
14 Waiting for the Harvest?
Glossary
Further Reading
Notes