Francis Bacon and the Modern Dilemma

by Loren Eiseley

Published in 1973 under title: The man who saw through time.

Genres: Nonfiction

98 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1962

About the author

Loren Corey Eiseley (September 3, 1907 – July 9, 1977) was a highly respected anthropologist, science writer, ecologist, and poet. He published books of essays, biography, and general science in the 1950s through the 1970s.

Eiseley is best known for the poetic essay style, called the "concealed essay". He used this to explain complex scientific ideas, such as human evolution, to the general public. He is also known for his writings about humanity's relationship with the natural world; these writings helped inspire the modern environmental movement.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A warm monograph ode to Francis Bacon as a prophet of empiricism and progressive humanist visionary that encourages in the reader both a disciplined mind as well as a humane spirit in considering a history of science, nature, and culture viewed from the early 1960s America with liberal quotations from various Bacon works plus those of Shakespeare, Thoreau, and others who influenced Eiseley, the poet/anthropologist/philosopher/historian of science.

[Winans E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another insightful offering by Loren Eiseley. Great read. I hitchhiked thru Philadelphia the summer of 1974. I unaware of Eiseley at the time thumbed my way through the University Campus. I wonder how close I passed to this luminary?

[T.R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather eloquent tribute, in three long essays, to Francis Bacon as the person who opened the doors to modern science and education, yet was unappreciated for it during his own time. The text drags in parts (not what one would expect from Loren Eiseley) and various quotes from Bacon are used, but seeming more, as they say, like a drunk uses a lamppost: for support rather than illumination. The language is more baconic than laconic shall we say? The final chapter has a little tribute to good nature writing tossed in, with its importance for science, which was good to read.

[Kylo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Florid prose, meandering narrative and dated 60s vantage point made me put it down. His passion for Francis Bacon kept me with the book longer than I expected, but eventually his prose wore me down. Hopefully not typical of Eiseley. Meanwhile, I'd be tempted to read more of Bacon.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good overview on Bacon and the flight.