# Francis Bacon — The Story of Utopias character guide

> Francis Bacon in The Story of Utopias by Lewis Mumford.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Bacon

**First appearance:** 0003-the-story-of-utopias

## Who they are

Philosopher-chancellor whose New Atlantis stakes utopia on knowledge, experiment, and the mastery of nature rather than on justice alone.

## Relationships

### [Johann Valentin Andreae](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters/johann_valentin_andreae)

_professional_

Bacon and Andreae are intellectual contemporaries whose utopian works share thematic and structural similarities, often studied together.

### [Tommaso Campanella](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters/tommaso_campanella)

_professional_

Bacon and Campanella are Renaissance utopian thinkers whose works ('New Atlantis' and 'City of the Sun') are frequently compared and contrasted.

## In the story

### [The Story of Utopias](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/the-story-of-utopias)

His 'New Atlantis' represents a scientific utopia, emphasizing knowledge and technological progress.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/i)

Mentioned as a second-rate utopian compared to Andreae, criticized for his foppishness about details in dress and superstitious regard for forms and ceremonials.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/vii)

Mentioned in contrast to Andreae's lucid, concrete approach versus Bacon's vague allegorical form.

### [How Bacon and Campanella, who have a great reputation as utopians, are little better than echoes of the men who went before them.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/v)

Criticized as an echo of earlier utopian thinkers.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ii)

Author of New Atlantis, criticized for childish and incoherent descriptions but credited with anticipating modern scientific research institutes.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/v)

Bacon is referenced as a benchmark for comparing pre-Baconian utopias with post-eighteenth-century ones.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/i)

Looked for the happiness of mankind chiefly in the application of science and industry.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/ii)

Noted for outlining the development of social sciences in his Novum Organon.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/iv)

Cited as one of the great humanists who desired science to be brought home and realized in the here and now.

### [Utopias](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/chapters/utopias)

Author of The New Atlantis (1627), a utopian vision of scientific advancement.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters/francis_bacon
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_story_of_utopias_se/characters