Tropes for the Disciplined Relationship between the Scientist and Nature:Travel and Gender in Francis Bacon’s Epistemology of Science

Abstract

Francis Bacon is known as the ‘father of modern science’ for his writings on the scientific method. Travel and gender tropes are widespread but misunderstood throughout his works. I argue that these tropes reveal Bacon’s epistemology of science—one that is quasi-moral, characterized by discipline, and communicated in relational terms.