By Francis Bacon with an Introduction by Oliphant Smeaton

Francis Bacon, Baron Verulam and Viscount St Albans, was bom at York House, Strand, on 22nd January the younger son, by his second wife, of Sir Nicholas Bacon. Eord Keeper of the Great Seal. Almost from birth Francis was a delicate child, and suffered from prolonged ill health, a circumstance to “which some biographers have attributed the gravity of manner even in youth characteristic of him. Probably it was due rather to his intense absorption, even in early childhood, in studies commonly assigned to youths considerably his seniors. Though his earlier boyhood is almost a blank to us, save that he spent it between the family residence in London, situated near the present Strand and the Thames, and the country seat, yet we obtain interesting light upon the facts of his career when he emerges from the domestic seclusion of home to proceed in his thirteenth year with his brother

LONDON J. M. DENT & SONS LTD: NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON & CO INC, 1561-1626, 221p.

By Karl R. Popper

Conjectures and Refutations is one of Karl Popper's most wide-ranging and popular works, notable not only for its acute insight into the way scientific knowledge grows, but also for applying those insights to politics and to history. It provides one of the clearest and most accessible statements of the fundamental idea that guided his work: not only our knowledge, but our aims and our standards, grow through an unending process of trial and error.

NY. Harper Torchbooks. 1963. 423p.

By   Charles Darwin

Edited By Charles W Eliot. From the Preface: “The Voyage of the *Beagle’ has been by far the most im­portant event in my life, and has determined my whole career. ... I have always felt that I owe to the voyage the first real training or education of my mind; I was led to attend closely to several branches of natural history, and thus my powers of observation were improved, though they were always fairly developed. . . .”

“The above various special studies were, however, of no im­portance compared with the habit of energetic industry and of concentrated attention to whatever I was engaged in, which I then acquired. Everything about which I thought or read was made to bear directly on what I had seen or was likely to see; and this habit of mind was continued during the five years of the voyage. I feel sure that it was this training which has en­abled me to do whatever I have done in science.”

NY. P F Collier & Son. 1843. 517p. .

By Daniel C. Dennett

From the preface: Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection has always fascinated me, but over the years I have found a surprising variety of thinkers who cannot conceal their discomfort with his great idea, ranging from nagging skepti­cism to outright hostility. I have found not just lay people and religious thinkers, but secular philosophers, psychologists, physicists, and even biol­ogists who w'ould prefer, it seems, that Darwin were wrong. This book is about why Darwin’s idea is so powerful, and why it promises—not threat­ens—to put our most cherished visions of life on a new foundation.

NY. Touchstone.1995. 568p. CONTAINS MARK-UP