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06 - The New Atlantis - Sir Francis Bacon · Science Fiction Books

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  Speaker 1: Section six. Likewise loadstones of prodigious virtue, and other rare stones,
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  Speaker 1: both natural and artificial. We have also sound houses, where
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  Speaker 1: we practice and demonstrate all sounds and their generation. We
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  Speaker 1: have harmonies, which you have not, of quarter sounds and
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  Speaker 1: lesser slides of sounds, diverse instruments of music, likewise to
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  Speaker 1: you unknown, some sweeter than any you have, together with
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  Speaker 1: bells and rings that are dainty and sweet. We represent
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  Speaker 1: small sounds as great and deep. Likewise great sounds extenuate
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  Speaker 1: and sharp. We make diverse tremblings and warblings of sounds,
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  Speaker 1: which in their original are entire. We represent and imitate
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  Speaker 1: all articulate sounds and letters, and the voices and notes
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  Speaker 1: of beasts and birds. We have certain helps, which set
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  Speaker 1: to the ear, do further the hearing greatly. We have
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  Speaker 1: also divers strange and artificial echoes, reflecting the voice many
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  Speaker 1: times and as it were tossing it, and some that
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  Speaker 1: give back the voice louder than it came, some shriller,
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  Speaker 1: and some deeper yea, some rendering the voice differing in
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  Speaker 1: the letters or articulate sound from that they receive. We
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  Speaker 1: have also means to convey sounds in trunks and pipes
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  Speaker 1: in strange lines and distances. We have also perfume houses,
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  Speaker 1: wherewith we join also practices of taste. We multiply smells
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  Speaker 1: which may seem strange. We imitate smells, making all smells
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  Speaker 1: to breathe out of other mixtures than those that give them.
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  Speaker 1: We make diverse imitations of taste, likewise, so that they
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  Speaker 1: will deceive any man's taste. And in this house we
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  Speaker 1: contain also a confiture house, where we make all sweetmeats
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  Speaker 1: dry and moist, and diverse pleasant wines, milks, broths, and
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  Speaker 1: salads in far greater variety than you have. We have
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  Speaker 1: also engine houses, where are prepared engines and instruments for
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  Speaker 1: all sorts of motions. There we imitate and practice to
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  Speaker 1: make swifter motions than any you have, either out of
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  Speaker 1: your muskets or any engine that you have, and to
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  Speaker 1: make them and multiply them more easily and with small force,
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  Speaker 1: by wheels and other means, and to make them stronger
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  Speaker 1: and more violent than yours, are, exceeding your greatest cannons
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  Speaker 1: and basilisks. We represent also ordnance and instruments of war,
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  Speaker 1: and engines of all kinds, and likewise new mixtures and
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  Speaker 1: compositions of gunpowder, wildfires burning in water and unquenchable. Also
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  Speaker 1: fireworks of all variety, both for pleasure and use. We imitate.
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  Speaker 1: Also flights of birds. We have some degrees of flying
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  Speaker 1: in the air. We have ships and boats for going
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  Speaker 1: under water and brooking of seas, also swimming girdles and supporters.
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  Speaker 1: We have divers, curious clocks, and other like. Motions of return,
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  Speaker 1: and some perpetual motions. We imitate. Also motions of living
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  Speaker 1: creatures by ima images of men, beasts, birds, fishes, and serpents.
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  Speaker 1: We have also a great number of other various motions
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  Speaker 1: strange for equality, fineness, and subtlety. We have also a
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  Speaker 1: mathematical house, where are represented all instruments, as well of geometry,
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  Speaker 1: as astronomy exquisitely made. We have also houses of deceits
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  Speaker 1: of the senses, where we represent all manner of feats
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  Speaker 1: of juggling, false apparitions, impostures, and illusions and their fallacies.
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  Speaker 1: And surely you will easily believe that we have so
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  Speaker 1: many things truly natural which induce admiration, could, in a
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  Speaker 1: world of particulars, deceive the senses if we would disguise
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  Speaker 1: those things and labor to make them seem more miraculous.
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  Speaker 1: But we do hate all impostures and lies, insomuch as
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  Speaker 1: we have severely forbidden it to all our fellows, under
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  Speaker 1: pain of ignominy and fines, that they do not show
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  Speaker 1: any natural work or thing adorned or swelling, but only
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  Speaker 1: pure as it is, and without all affectation of strangeness.
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  Speaker 1: These are my son, the riches of Solomon's house. For
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  Speaker 1: the several employments and offices of our fellows, we have
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  Speaker 1: twelve that sail into foreign countries under the names of
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  Speaker 1: other nations. For our own we conceal who bring us
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  Speaker 1: the books and abstracts and patterns of experiments of all
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  Speaker 1: other parts. These we call merchants of light. We have
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  Speaker 1: three that collect the experiments which are in all books.
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  Speaker 1: These we call depredators. We have three that collect the
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  Speaker 1: experiments of all mechanical arts, and also of liberal sciences,
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  Speaker 1: and also of practices which are not brought into arts.
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  Speaker 1: These we call mystery men. We have three that try
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  Speaker 1: new experiments, such as themselves think good. These we call
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  Speaker 1: pioneers or miners. We have three that draw the experiments
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  Speaker 1: of the former four into titles and tables to give
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  Speaker 1: the better light for the drawing of observations and axioms
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  Speaker 1: out of them. These we call compilers. We have three
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  Speaker 1: that bend themselves looking into the experiments of their fellows,
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  Speaker 1: and cast about how to draw out of them things
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  Speaker 1: of use and practice for man's life and knowledge, as
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  Speaker 1: well for works, as for plain demonstration of causes, means
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  Speaker 1: of natural divinations, and the easy and clear discovery of
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  Speaker 1: the virtues and parts of bodies. These we call dowry
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  Speaker 1: men or benefactors. Then, after diverse meetings and consults of
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  Speaker 1: our whole number to consider, of the former labors and collections,
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  Speaker 1: we have three that take care out of them to
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  Speaker 1: direct new experiments of a higher light, more penetrating into
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  Speaker 1: nature than the former. These we call lamps. We have
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  Speaker 1: three others that do execute the experiments so directed and
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  Speaker 1: report them. These we call inoculators. Lastly, we have three
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  Speaker 1: that raise the former discoveries by experiments into greater observations, axioms,
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  Speaker 1: and aphorisms. These we call interpreters of nature. We have, also,
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  Speaker 1: as you must think, novices and apprentices that the succession
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  Speaker 1: of the former employed men do not fail. Besides, a
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  Speaker 1: great number of servants and attendants men and women, And
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  Speaker 1: this we do. Also. We have consultations which of the
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  Speaker 1: inventions and experiences which we have discovered shall be published,
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  Speaker 1: and which not, and take all an oath of secrecy
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  Speaker 1: for the concealing of those which we think fit to
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  Speaker 1: keep secret, though some of those we do reveal, sometimes
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  Speaker 1: to the state and some not, for our ordinances and rights.
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  Speaker 1: We have two very long and fair galleries. In one
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  Speaker 1: of these we place patterns and samples of all manner
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  Speaker 1: of the more rare and excellent inventions. In the other
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  Speaker 1: we place the statues of all principal inventors. There we
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  Speaker 1: have the statue of your Columbus that discover the West Indies,
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  Speaker 1: also the inventor of ships, your Monk that was, the
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  Speaker 1: inventor of ordnance and gunpowder, the inventor of music, the
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  Speaker 1: inventor of letters, the inventor of printing, the inventor of
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  Speaker 1: observations of astronomy, the inventor of works in metal, the
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  Speaker 1: inventor of glass, the inventor of silk of the worm,
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  Speaker 1: the inventor of wine, the inventor of corn and bread,
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  Speaker 1: the inventor of sugars, and all these by more certain
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  Speaker 1: tradition than you have. Then, have we diverse inventors of
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  Speaker 1: our own, of excellent works, which, since you have not
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  Speaker 1: seen it, were too long to make descriptions of them.
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  Speaker 1: And besides, in the right understanding of those descriptions you
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  Speaker 1: might easily air for upon every invention of value, we
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  Speaker 1: erect a statue to the inventor and give him a
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  Speaker 1: liberal and honorable reward. These statues are some of brass,
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  Speaker 1: some of marble and touchstone, some of cedar and other
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  Speaker 1: special woods, gilt and adorned, some of iron, some of silver,
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  Speaker 1: some of gold. We have certain hymns and services which
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  Speaker 1: we say daily of Lord and thanks to God for
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  Speaker 1: his marvelous works, and form of prayers imploring his aid
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  Speaker 1: and blessing for the illumination of our labors and the
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  Speaker 1: turning of them into good and holy uses. Lastly, we
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  Speaker 1: have circuits or visits of diverse principal cities of the Kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: Where as it cometh to pass, we do publish such
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  Speaker 1: new profitable inventions as we think good. And we do
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  Speaker 1: also declare natural divinations of diseases, plagues, swarms of hurtful creatures, scarcity, tempests, earthquakes,
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  Speaker 1: great inundations, comets, temperature of the year, and diverse other things,
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  Speaker 1: and we give counsel thereupon what the people shall do
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  Speaker 1: for the prevention and remedy of them. And when he
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  Speaker 1: had said this, he stood up, and I, as I
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  Speaker 1: had been taught, kneeled down. And he laid his right
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  Speaker 1: hand upon my head, and said, God bless THEE, my son,
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  Speaker 1: and God bless this relation which I have made. I
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  Speaker 1: give THEE leave to publish it for the good of
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  Speaker 1: other nations, for we here are in God's bosom, a
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  Speaker 1: land unknown. And so he left me, having assigned a
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  Speaker 1: value of about two thousand ducats for a bounty to
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  Speaker 1: me and my fellows, for they give great largesses where
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  Speaker 1: they come upon all occasions. The rest was not perfected.
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  Speaker 1: End of Section six and end of the New Atlantis
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  Speaker 1: by Francis Bacon