Francis Bacon's Novum Organum was published in 1620. Written in Latin, the work proposed a new approach to investigating nature and became one of the defining texts associated with early modern scientific method.
The title means “New Organon,” referring to Aristotle's Organon, a collection of works on logic. Bacon presented his book as a replacement for relying primarily on traditional syllogistic reasoning and inherited authority. He argued that investigators should collect careful observations, compare cases, identify patterns, and gradually develop reliable general principles.
Novum Organum formed the second part of Bacon's planned six-part Instauratio Magna, or “Great Instauration.” The larger project was never completed, and Novum Organum itself remained unfinished. It is also famous for Bacon's discussion of “idols”—systematic sources of error that can distort human judgment, including assumptions arising from language, culture, and individual habits. The book influenced later debates about empiricism and experimental science, although modern scientific practice is not simply identical to Bacon's method.