day, year by year, generation bygeneration, in a succession stretching backward through time to the most remoteperiod of human antiquity.Wherever speakers have traveled, whatever newartifacts or flora or fauna or customs they have encountered, whatever newbeliefs or philosophies or sciences they have developed, whatever joys ortragedies they have undertaken; their lexicon has accompanied them, growingsteadily, adapting and accommodating itself to their ever-changing needs.New words have entered English;"new", that is, to the English language, but often incredibly old inothers.Many words have fallen into disuse, grownobsolete, and sometimes disappeared; as well as, developed meanings thatfrequently diverge in amazing ways from their earlier senses.Words, of course, serve as building blocks ofcommunication, as tools of thought, and as outlets for emotions; but theyrepresent more than that: they are living representatives of the past, and eachbears the imprint of its passage through time.Every word in its own right is a souvenir ofhistory with a unique story to tell all of us, as demonstrated in these"English and its Historical Development" pages.Keyliterary words in English that are of Greek origin include: anachronism,anthology, archetype, biography, catharsis, comedy, criticism, elegy, epic,euphemism, hubris, irony, lyric, metaphor, mythology, poetics, rhetoric,sarcasm, symbolism, and tragedy.As aresult of the continued influence of Greek elements from so many directions,the English language is simply saturated with this classical source.It isfair to say that without some knowledge of the Latin and Greek elements inEnglish, users of English can not be certain of the accuracy of their spellingsor of the correctness of many of the simple and more complex words used inEnglish which are the results of Latin and Greek sources.Francis Bacon (1561 1626) Introduction Sir Francis Bacon (Baron Verulam, 1stViscount St Alban) (1561 - 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman,essayist and scientist of the late Renaissance period. He was an astute and ambitiouspolitician in the turbulent and poisonous political climate of Elizabethanand Jacobean England. But, despite his sometimes nefarious dealingsand constant battles against debt, he was also the possessor of a brilliantmind.His major contribution to philosophy was hisapplication of inductive reasoning (generalizations based on individualinstances), the approach used by modern science, rather than the apriori method of medieval Scholasticism and Aristotelianism. He was an early proponentof Empiricism and the scientific method. Life FrancisBacon was born in London, England on 22 January 1561. His fatherwas Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal under QueenElizabeth I; his mother was Ann Cooke, Sir Nicholas' second wife,daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, and sister-in-law of William Cecil (LordBurghley) (chief advisor to Queen Elizabeth). He was therefore raised as anEnglish gentleman, and had many contacts in the royal courtof the day. He was the youngest of his father's five sons and threedaughters.Bacon's earlyeducation was conducted at home owing to poor health, which plaguedhim throughout his life. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge at theage of twelve (living in Cambridge for three years with his older brother, Anthony),and it was there that he first met the Queen, who was impressed by his precociousintellect. In 1582,his ambitions (which he described as to discover truth, to serve hiscountry and to serve his church) led him into politics.