The New Atlantis (Classic Books of Enlightenment Philosophy)

The New Atlantis by Francis Bacon details the ideas and vision of the scientific utopia conceived by the author. This story sets out a process of discovery whereby sailors, lost somewhere off the Peruvian coastline, stumble across Bensalem. While the opening passages hold only the bare bones of plot, the emphasis once the explorers arrive in Bensalem is its university - Salomon's House. Promoted tenets include kindness, compassion and honesty, aesthetic beauty in public buildings and civic life, an intellectual spirit fostered among the population, a university named Salomon's House where sciences are studied and developed, and a strong sense of religious piety held by the entire population. Today, The New Atlantis is most significant for its statement of the ideals of the nascent Enlightenment era, in which Francis Bacon was an influential thinker. The text is also interpretative, with Bensalem's conversion to Christianity and the nature of its hierarchy poignant elements in the fiction.