bacon, flesh of hogs—especially from the sides, belly, or back—that has been preserved by being salted or pickled and then dried with or without wood smoke. Traditionally, the process consisted of soaking the pork in brine or rubbing it in a salt mixture by hand, then smoking the sides in smoke from an open chimney. It sometimes took three or four months. Bacon is still home cured in some rural communities, but the bulk of its manufacture is carried on in large industrial meatpacking plants equipped to slaughter, dress, cure, smoke, and sell on a large scale. Bacon refers to different cuts in different countries. In the United States it usually means the side between the fifth rib and the hipbone. In Europe, the word bacon generally refers to one half of a fattened pig. Bacon has one of the highest fat contents of any cut of meat.

Fall, Albert Bacon, 1861-1944, American cabinet official, b. Frankfort, Ky. He became a rancher in New Mexico and a political leader in that state. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1912, he served there until President Harding made him Secretary of the Interior in 1921. Fall was one of the chief figures in the scandal concerning oil lands that rocked the Republican administration (see Teapot Dome). He resigned in 1923 and was later tried and found guilty (1931) of conspiracy to defraud the government.

Bacon, Sir Nicholas, 1509-79, English jurist. Called to the bar in 1533, he was made attorney of the court of wards and liveries in 1546 and, although a staunch Protestant, held this office through the reign of Mary I. On the accession (1558) of Elizabeth I, he was appointed lord keeper of the privy seal, possibly through the influence of William Cecil, later Lord Burghley (whose wife's sister Bacon married). In 1559 he was authorized to exercise the jurisdiction of the lord chancellor. He regarded Mary Queen of Scots as a menace to English peace and opposed any measure of compromise with her. He was the father of Francis Bacon.

Bacon, Roger, c.1214-1294?, English scholastic philosopher and scientist, a Franciscan. He studied at Oxford as well as at the Univ. of Paris and became one of the most celebrated and zealous teachers at Oxford. Bacon was learned in Hebrew and in Greek and stressed the value of knowing the original languages in the study of Aristotle and of the Bible. He may also have known Arabic; his own philosophy drew upon Arab Aristotelianism as well as upon St. Augustine. He had an interest far in advance of his times in natural science, in controlled experiments, and in the accurate observation of phenomena. "It is the intention of philosophy," he said, "to work out the natures and properties of things." He declared that mathematics was the gateway to science, and experience, or verification, the only basis of certainty. This belief in experience as a guide to the outer world was, however, not divorced from theology; wisdom and faith were to him one. His writings were numerous. Three of his most important works were written for Pope Clement IV in one year (1267-68)—the Opus majus (tr. 1928), the Opus minor, and the Opus tertium. He was deeply interested in alchemy, an interest that may account for his being credited by his contemporaries with great learning in magical practices. He was long credited with the invention of gunpowder (because of a formula for gunpowder that appeared in a work attributed to him). A manuscript in cipher, discovered in the 20th cent. and attributed to him, would make Bacon the first man to have observed spiral nebulae through a telescope and to have examined cells through a microscope; but considerable doubt has been cast on the original date and the authenticity of the manuscript. Earlier editions of his major works were supplemented by an edition of his hitherto unedited works in various fascicles by Robert Steele and others (1909-35).

Bacon, Robert, 1860-1919, American banker and government official, b. Jamaica Plain, Mass. He embarked upon a career in business and in 1894 accepted a partnership with J. P. Morgan and Company. He participated in the formation (1901) of the U.S. Steel Corp. and the Northern Securities Company. Bacon later served (1905-9) as Assistant Secretary of State under President Theodore Roosevelt, and was briefly (1909) Secretary of State. He was (1909-12) also ambassador to France. An outspoken proponent of U.S. entry into World War I, he served (1917-19) in the U.S. army. He wrote For Better Relations with Our Latin American Neighbors (1915).

Bacon, Peggy, 1895-1987, American illustrator, caricaturist, and etcher, b. Ridgefield, Conn. She illustrated more than 60 books including works by George Ade, Carl Sandburg, and Louis Untermeyer, as well as her own poems and her stories for children. Her shrewd and caustic observations have found expression in her writings and in her graphic work. Socialist Meeting (Metropolitan Mus.) is characteristic. Among her published works are Off with Their Heads (1934); Cat-Calls (1935), a volume of light verse; and, for children, The Ghost of Opalina (1967) and Magic Touch (1968). Bacon was married (1920-40) to the painter Alexander Brook.

Bacon, Nathaniel, 1647-76, leader of Bacon's Rebellion in colonial Virginia. An aristocrat (he was kin to Francis Bacon, had been educated at Cambridge and Gray's Inn, and was a member of the governor's council), Bacon nevertheless became the champion of the discontented frontiersmen after only two years' residence in the colony. When he died suddenly from the effects of malaria, the revolt collapsed.

Bacon, Leonard, 1802-81, American Congregational minister, b. Detroit, Mich. He served for 41 years as pastor of the First Church of New Haven, one of the leading Congregational churches in the country. Bacon was a noted antislavery leader, although not an abolitionist. His Slavery Discussed in Occasional Essays (1846) made a great impression upon Lincoln. He was a founder and editor of the Independent and author of the widely known Pilgrim Hymn (1833) and The Genesis of the New England Churches (1874).

Bacon, Henry, 1866-1924, American architect, b. Watseka, Ill. He began his professional career with the firm of McKim, Mead, and White, but after 1903 he practiced independently. Among the important structures designed by him are the Lincoln Memorial at Washington, D.C. (completed 1917), and the World War Memorial at Yale Univ.

Bacon, Francis, 1561-1626, English philosopher, essayist, and statesman, b. London, educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and at Gray's Inn. He was the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, lord keeper to Queen Elizabeth I. Francis Bacon was a member of Parliament in 1584 and his opposition to Elizabeth's tax program retarded his political advancement; only the efforts of the earl of Essex led Elizabeth to accept him as an unofficial member of her Learned Council. At Essex's trial in 1601, Bacon, putting duty to the state above friendship, assumed an active part in the prosecution—a course for which many have condemned him. With the succession of James I, Bacon's fortunes improved. He was knighted in 1603, became attorney general in 1613, lord keeper in 1617, and lord chancellor in 1618; he was created Baron Verulam in 1618 and Viscount St. Albans in 1621. In 1621, accused of accepting bribes as lord chancellor, he pleaded guilty and was fined £40,000, banished from the court, disqualified from holding office, and sentenced to the Tower of London. The banishment, fine, and imprisonment were remitted. Nevertheless, his career as a public servant was ended. He spent the rest of his life writing in retirement.

Bacon belongs to both the worlds of philosophy and literature. He projected a large philosophical work, the Instauratio Magna, but completed only two parts, The Advancement of Learning (1605), later expanded in Latin as De Augmentis Scientiarum (1623), and the Novum Organum (1620). Bacon's contribution to philosophy was his application of the inductive method of modern science. He urged full investigation in all cases, avoiding theories based on insufficient data. However, he has been widely censured for being too mechanical, failing to carry his investigations to their logical ends, and not staying abreast of the scientific knowledge of his own day. In the 19th cent., Macaulay initiated a movement to restore Bacon's prestige as a scientist. Today his contributions are regarded with considerable respect. In The New Atlantis (1627) he describes a scientific utopia that found partial realization with the organization of the Royal Society in 1660. Noted for their style and their striking observations about life, his largely aphoristic Essays (1597-1625) are his best-known writings.

Bacon, Francis, 1910-92, English painter, b. Dublin. A self-taught artist, Bacon became the center of a storm of controversy with his Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion (1944; Tate Gall., London), which portrayed carcasslike figures on crosses. He painted a series of variations on figural themes, e.g., Van Gogh Goes to Work, Velázquez's Innocent X. Often large in scale, Bacon's works focus on shockingly grotesque and brutally satiric themes. From the 1950s on his images become increasingly distorted and abstract, sometimes merging human and animal forms.

(born circa 1220, Ilchester, Somerset, or Bisley, Gloucester?, Eng.—died 1292, Oxford) English scientist and philosopher. He was educated at Oxford and the University of Paris and joined the Franciscan order in 1247. He displayed a prodigious energy and zeal in the pursuit of experimental science; his studies eventually won him a place in popular literature as a worker of wonders. He was the first European to describe in detail the process of making gunpowder, and he proposed flying machines and motorized ships and carriages. He therefore represents a historically precocious expression of the empirical spirit of experimental science, even though his actual practice of it seems to have been exaggerated. His philosophical thought was essentially Aristotelian, though he was critical of the methods of theologians such as Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas, arguing that a more accurate experimental knowledge of nature would be of great value in confirming the Christian faith. He also wrote on mathematics and logic. He was condemned to prison circa 1277 by his fellow Franciscans because of “suspected novelties” in his teaching.

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(born Jan. 2, 1647, Suffolk, Eng.—died October 1676, Virginia Colony) British-born American colonial planter, leader of Bacon's Rebellion. He emigrated from England in 1673 and acquired land in Virginia, where he was appointed to the council of William Berkeley, the British governor. After a dispute over Indian policy, he defied Berkeley's orders and organized an expedition against the Indians in 1676. He then turned his forces against Berkeley, captured Jamestown, and briefly controlled most of Virginia. His death at age 29 of influenza, at the height of his power, ended the rebellion.

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(born Oct. 28, 1909, Dublin, Ire.—died April 28, 1992, Madrid, Spain) Irish-British painter. He lived in Berlin and Paris before settling in London (1929) to begin a career as an interior decorator. With no formal art training, he started painting, drawing, and participating in gallery exhibitions, with little success. In 1944 he achieved instant notoriety with a series of controversial paintings, Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion. His mature style emerged completely with the series of works known as “The Screaming Popes” (1949–mid-1950s), in which he converted Diego Velázquez's famous Portrait of Pope Innocent X into a nightmarish icon of hysterical terror. Most of Bacon's paintings depict isolated figures, often framed by geometric constructions, and rendered in smeared, violent colours. His imagery typically suggests anger, horror, and degradation.

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(born Nov. 26, 1861, Frankfort, Ky., U.S.—died Nov. 30, 1944, El Paso, Texas) U.S. secretary of the interior (1921–23). He began practicing law in New Mexico Territory in 1889. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1913 to 1921, when he was appointed Secretary of the Interior by Pres. Warren G. Harding. He resigned his cabinet post two years later and returned to New Mexico. In 1924 a Senate investigation revealed that Fall had accepted a large bribe to lease to private oil interests, without competitive bidding, naval oil reserve lands in the Teapot Dome reserve in Wyoming and other reserves in California. He was convicted of bribery in 1929 and served nine months of a one-year prison sentence. Seealso Teapot Dome scandal.

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(born circa 1220, Ilchester, Somerset, or Bisley, Gloucester?, Eng.—died 1292, Oxford) English scientist and philosopher. He was educated at Oxford and the University of Paris and joined the Franciscan order in 1247. He displayed a prodigious energy and zeal in the pursuit of experimental science; his studies eventually won him a place in popular literature as a worker of wonders. He was the first European to describe in detail the process of making gunpowder, and he proposed flying machines and motorized ships and carriages. He therefore represents a historically precocious expression of the empirical spirit of experimental science, even though his actual practice of it seems to have been exaggerated. His philosophical thought was essentially Aristotelian, though he was critical of the methods of theologians such as Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas, arguing that a more accurate experimental knowledge of nature would be of great value in confirming the Christian faith. He also wrote on mathematics and logic. He was condemned to prison circa 1277 by his fellow Franciscans because of “suspected novelties” in his teaching.

Learn more about Bacon, Roger with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Jan. 2, 1647, Suffolk, Eng.—died October 1676, Virginia Colony) British-born American colonial planter, leader of Bacon's Rebellion. He emigrated from England in 1673 and acquired land in Virginia, where he was appointed to the council of William Berkeley, the British governor. After a dispute over Indian policy, he defied Berkeley's orders and organized an expedition against the Indians in 1676. He then turned his forces against Berkeley, captured Jamestown, and briefly controlled most of Virginia. His death at age 29 of influenza, at the height of his power, ended the rebellion.

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(born Oct. 28, 1909, Dublin, Ire.—died April 28, 1992, Madrid, Spain) Irish-British painter. He lived in Berlin and Paris before settling in London (1929) to begin a career as an interior decorator. With no formal art training, he started painting, drawing, and participating in gallery exhibitions, with little success. In 1944 he achieved instant notoriety with a series of controversial paintings, Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion. His mature style emerged completely with the series of works known as “The Screaming Popes” (1949–mid-1950s), in which he converted Diego Velázquez's famous Portrait of Pope Innocent X into a nightmarish icon of hysterical terror. Most of Bacon's paintings depict isolated figures, often framed by geometric constructions, and rendered in smeared, violent colours. His imagery typically suggests anger, horror, and degradation.

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(born Nov. 26, 1861, Frankfort, Ky., U.S.—died Nov. 30, 1944, El Paso, Texas) U.S. secretary of the interior (1921–23). He began practicing law in New Mexico Territory in 1889. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1913 to 1921, when he was appointed Secretary of the Interior by Pres. Warren G. Harding. He resigned his cabinet post two years later and returned to New Mexico. In 1924 a Senate investigation revealed that Fall had accepted a large bribe to lease to private oil interests, without competitive bidding, naval oil reserve lands in the Teapot Dome reserve in Wyoming and other reserves in California. He was convicted of bribery in 1929 and served nine months of a one-year prison sentence. Seealso Teapot Dome scandal.

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