A Refinement of Natural History

In aphorism 98 of Book One, Bacon discusses the format in which scientific observation is organized. This organization that Bacon calls "natural history" is pivotal to the construction of his New Organon. Mr. Stabenfeldt discussed the way in which the particulars should be observed by the individual, but Bacon in emphasized that there must also be a systematic way of cataloguing these particulars. He admits that Aristotle "composed so greatly a history of animals" but that his methodology was weak because it did not include "experiments of the mechanical arts". Therefore Bacon in Aphorism 102 declares that he has devised "Tables of Discovery". This differs from traditional natural history in that his Tables will unite observation and experiment; in practice the Tables are more a tool for the refinement of experiment and observation than a way of cataloguing discovered facts. Mr. Cameron Smith's blog post describes in more detail the relationship between these Tables and hypotheses.

In hindsight, we can say that Bacon's tables are faulty and outdated , but he himself realized that this was a possibility. In Aphorism 118 of Book One he admits that people may find mistakes or problems with his Natural Histories and Tables. He then goes on to say though that his method is more precise than "common natural history, which in comparison to mine is so negligent and inexact". He therefore sees his system as an improvement compared to previous attempts at natural history, and he has only his own ideas to work from.

What Bacon truly understands is that the structure for the cataloguing of scientific knowledge will shape the whole of the science as well as influencing the observation. This is apparent in light of how Darwin's theory of Natural Selection affected the biological and ecological sciences, particularly biological taxonomy.