New Atlantis
Francis Bacon 1627
This unfinished tale follows sailors who discover an island society devoted to scientific research. At its heart is Salomon's House, where researchers study nature through experiments and inventions.
57 pages 1h 6m reading time
- A founding work of science fiction and of the modern idea that science can make life better.
- Imagines a nation run with the help of scientists who work as a team, share their findings, and use them to improve health, food, and daily life.
- Pictures many inventions that did not yet exist, such as flying machines, submarines, ways to send sound over distance, and new medicines.
- Helped inspire the founders of the Royal Society in London (started in 1660), one of the first scientific societies in the world.
- Shaped the lasting idea of the research institute, a place funded to discover new knowledge through careful experiments.
Printed after his death
His secretary, William Rawley, published it a year after Bacon died, at the back of a science book.
Written after a disgrace
Bacon likely wrote it around 1624, after losing his top government job in a bribery scandal.
Set aside for science
Rawley said Bacon left it unfinished because he chose to spend his time collecting facts about nature.
A title borrowed from Plato
The name points to Atlantis, the lost island in stories by the ancient Greek writer Plato.