Francis Bacon - Father of Scientism

A Lecture to the Rising Tide Foundation

I delivered a lecture to the Rising Tide Foundation this past weekend: Francis Bacon - Father of Scientism.

This presentation reexamines Francis Bacon’s (1561–1626) role in the history of ideas, tracing his debt to medieval scholastics like Grosseteste and Roger Bacon, his critique of Aristotelian logic, and his program for inductive science. While Bacon himself made few discoveries, his vision in The Great Instauration and The New Atlantis inspired the Royal Society and shaped the cultural authority of science. The talk argues that Bacon’s true legacy was not as the “Father of Science” but as the founder of scientism: the elevation of science into a worldview and instrument of power.

Here’s the lecture:

This lecture included material from two of my posts:

Updated! Francis Bacon and the Birth of Scientism

2.2 Early & Medieval Physics

Thanks, Matthew Ehret, for the invitation. Check out his Substack, here:

Updated! What’s the rest of the story?

Matthew Ehret’s essay argues that the “Invisible College,” first formed in 1646 and later institutionalized as the Royal Society, was inspired by Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis vision of a secretive, technocratic priesthood of science, where knowledge was compartmentalized and tightly controlled. He traces its evolution through groups like the Hellfire Club, the Cambridge Apostles, and Thomas Huxley’s X-Club, which promoted Darwinian orthodoxy while retaining occult ties. In the 20th century, the concept reappeared in the Tavistock Institute’s psychological warfare programs and in UFO networks led by J. Allen Hynek and Jacques Vallée, who linked their efforts to Rosicrucian traditions. Ehret concludes that the lineage persists today in Silicon Valley’s transhumanist circles, particularly through John Brockman’s Edge Foundation, which explicitly likens itself to the Invisible College, perpetuating an elite “priesthood of science” that blends esotericism, social engineering, and technocratic ambition.

The Neo-Platonic Invisible College: Rosicrucians, Theosophists and Tavistock to the Rise of Silicon Valley's Transhumanist Priests

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading Fields & Energy.

Enjoyed the post, but maybe not quite enough to spring for a paid subscription?
Then click on the button below to buy me a coffee. Thanks!

Follow Online:

You may follow me online in other places as well:

• Telegram: 𝔸𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕫𝕒𝕣'𝕤 𝔸𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞

• Gab: @aetherczar

• Twitter: @aetherczar

• Amazon: Hans G. Schantz

• ResearchGate

• Google Scholar

• ORCID