Francis Bacon was an English philosopher and statesman who developed a scientific method for solving problems. Bacon felt that people should have control over the world around them. The way to get this control is through knowledge. The way to get knowledge is through science. Bacon stated that there are several things which keep people from getting knowledge. First, people tend to decide something is generally true if they have found it to be true in only one or two cases. They do not test it to find out if it is true in all cases. Second, people base decisions on their own backgrounds and educations. They do not consider that someone with a different background and education might make a different decision. Third, people have to use words to describe something. Since words can be confusing, it is important to be exact in a description ( 描写 ). Bacon called these blocks of knowledge prejudices. Once these prejudices are put aside, people can get knowledge through inductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning needs making many observations and tests before arriving at any conclusions. Bacon suggested that lists be prepared. One list is for things that are true. A second list is for things that are not true. A third list is for things that are more true than not. For example, a person has seen only red apples. He says, “All apples are red.” He believes this until he sees a yellow apple. He may then say, “Most apples are red.” If he had made lists as suggested by Bacon, he would find that there are many red apples and many yellow apples. It would be better for him to say, “There are red apples and yellow apples.” Bacon’s theory states that the more often an idea is tested and found to be true, the more likely it is to be true. Since Bacon was highly respected as a philosopher, his views were widely accepted. His work helped greatly in the progress of Renaissance ( 文艺复兴时期 ) science.