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Francis Bacon: the 17th-century philosopher whose scientific ideas could tackle climate change today
If we don’t make a fundamental change to the way we are living, the world faces the destruction of entire eco-systems, flooding of coastal areas, and ever more extreme weather.
- Michael Wilby
- The Conversation
Such was the stark warning in a recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.
The task is enormous.
One way to approach it is to look back to a time when scientific thinking did manage to initiate revolutionary changes in our outlook.
In the 17th century, the philosopher Francis Bacon called for a “great fresh start” in our thinking about the natural world, and helped usher in the scientific revolution that replaced the…