Sir Francis Bacon, (1561-1626) played a significant role in the colonisation of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Newfoundland by the English Crown between 1607-1610. New Atlantis, posthumously published in 1627, is a utopian novel portraying a vision of the future of human discovery and knowledge for the betterment of humanity. Sir Francis has been called the father of empiricism, a guiding spirit of the scientific revolution. New Atlantis refers to a land known as Bensalem, and Salomon’s House, a precursor to the Royal Society that was founded in 1660. King Solomon was considered the first scientist.

God gave Solomon unusual wisdom and insight, and knowledge too great to be measured. Solomon was wiser than the wise men of the East or the wise men of Egypt. He was the wisest of all men: he spoke of trees and plants, from the Lebanon cedars to the hyssop that grows on walls; he talked about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. Kings all over the world heard of his wisdom and sent people to listen to him. 1 Kings 4:30

Natural philosophy and the study of causes preoccupied the minds of the men that formed ‘the Invisible College’, an underground network of emerging scientists. As the Wars of Religion were raging across the Continent between 1618-1648, the Rosicrucians and other groups set about reforming the world through knowledge. Esteemed men of learning like Sir Francis Bacon, the first modern English architect – Inigo Jones, the polymath Sir Christopher Wren, renowned scientist Sir Isaac Newton, all contributed to the Scientific Revolution that set the stage for the Enlightenment and Revolutions of the 18th century. Like rungs on a ladder, each generation adds something new to the human collective. 

One of the challenging aspects about history, and in particular an individuals own ancestry, is facing both the good and the bad of our past. History as we know it is mostly HIS story. HER story doesn’t feature much and a concerted effort needs to be made to right this wrong. The same applies to Indigenous people and the African Slave Trade. Although George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were highly enlightened for their time, they were also slave owners. This contradiction needs to be integrated. It is rather challenging not throwing the baby out with the bath water, and equally so not whitewashing history. 

History provides us the opportunity to learn from our mistakes, that’s how we grow. If we choose to ignore the lessons of our past, we are doomed to repeat the same patterns. Keep what works, discard what doesn’t, and continue to refine consciousness, ever approximating an equitable society.