Francis Bacon Stuffs a Chicken

By training I am a physicist and a science historian. I found out late in my grad career that I just do not like writing long papers. Fortunately I found a community college that needed somebody with a varied past (checkered?). Anyway, the joy of the job is I get to tell stories in class.

Sir Francis Bacon was a renaissance lawyer, historian, and natural philosopher (I guess I should get a law degree). He is an important figure in the development of the experimental method. When Isaac Newton talked about standing on the shoulders of giants Francis Bacon was clearly one of the giants.

In March of 1626 Bacon went to market to get a chicken. It had snowed in London that day and there was a nice blanket of snow on the ground. Bacon had his driver take him to the market in his carriage. He was in bedclothes with a blanket (fur?). At the market vendors brought their wares to his window and he chose, among other things, a chicken. On the way home he was looking at the snow and wondered about the effect of freezing on meat decay.

He orders his driver to stop the carriage, jumps out, and stuffs the chicken with snow. Unfortunately, since he was ill dressed for the task, he caught a cold. The cold eventually becomes bronchitis and on April 9, 1626 Bacon passes away at the age of 65.

As a side note, in 1601 Lord Essex and cohorts hatched a plain to kidnap Queen Elizabeth. The plot is uncovered and Bacon successfully prosecutes Lord Essex for his part in the plot.