Sir Francis Bacon British Scientist, Philosopher and Statesman (22 January 1561 - 9 April 1626). Copper frontis engraving from Bacon's 'Sylva Sylvarum, or a Natural History' which was adapted from the life portrait engraving by Simon de Passe 1618. Bacon virtually pioneered the modern scientific method in his 1620 book 'Novum Organum' ('New Instrument'). In it he outlines repeated cycles of observation, hypothesis, experimentation and verification. He recorded the methods of his own investigations in detail. It represented a break from the inductive science of Aristotle and prompted the scientific method with which we are familiar (though hypothesis formed a relatively small part of his procedure). Bacon's death due to pneumonia was reportedly due to an experiment on preserving bodies in snow. His methods prompted later scientists to found the Royal Society.