Synthesized answer
The passages explain that "Nature to be commanded must be obeyed" means human power over nature is achieved only by submitting to nature's own laws. Bacon states that "human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known the effect cannot be produced" [2]. Thus, "obeying" nature means first understanding its causes through observation and contemplation, because "that which in contemplation is as the cause is in operation as the rule" [2]. This obedience is not passive but a disciplined alignment with natural processes.
The practical application is that by learning nature's rules, humans can command natural phenomena to produce desired effects. Bacon notes that "all that man can do is to put together or put asunder natural bodies. The rest is done by nature working within" [1]. So, human power lies in arranging conditions so that nature itself performs the work. This obedience ultimately leads to control, as "the discovery of forms... results genuine theory and free practice" [4], opening "broad roads to human power" [5].
The passages do not provide a specific example from the "quantum logic clock" mentioned in the question, but they clearly establish the…
Synthesized from the book passages below. Chat with the book on Feynman for follow-up.
From the book
Nature to be commanded must be obeyed; and that which in contemplation is as the cause is in operation as the rule. IV. Towards the effecting of works, all that man can do is to put together or put asunder natural bodies. The rest is done by nature working within. V. The study of nature with a view to works is engaged in by [p. 48] the mechanic, the mathematician, the physician, the alchemist, and the magician; but by all (as things now are) with slight endeavour and scanty success. VI. It would be an unsound fancy and self-contradictory to expect that things which have never yet been done…
← Preface Novum Organum by Francis Bacon , translated by James Spedding et al. Book I Book II → 191754 Novum Organum — Book I James Spedding et al. Francis Bacon —————————————————— APHORISMS CONCERNING THE INTERPRETATION OF NATURE AND THE KINGDOM OF MAN. —————————————————— Aphorism I. [p. 47] Man, being the servant and interpreter of Nature, can do and understand so much and so much only as he has observed in fact or in thought of the course of nature: beyond this he neither knows anything nor can do anything. II. Neither the naked hand nor the understanding left to itself can effect much. It…
← Preface Novum Organum by Francis Bacon , translated by William Wood Book I Book II → 187108 Novum Organum — Book I William Wood Francis Bacon —————————————————— APHORISMS ON THE INTERPRETATION OF NATURE AND THE EMPIRE OF MAN. —————————————————— APHORISM 1. [Page 345] Man, as the minister and interpreter of nature, does and understands as much as his observations on the order of nature, either with regard to things or the mind, permit him, and neither knows nor is capable of more. 2. The unassisted hand, and the understanding left to itself, possess but little power. Effects are produced by…
orever have escaped man's thoughts; from the discovery of forms, therefore, results genuine theory and free practice. 4. Although there is a most intimate connection, and almost an identity between the ways of human power and human knowledge, yet, on account of the pernicious and inveterate habit of dwelling upon abstractions, it is by far the safest method to commence and build up the sciences from those foundations which bear a relation to the practical division, and to let them mark out and limit the theoretical. We must consider, therefore, what precepts, or what direction or guide, a…
e may follow the transformation of that body into gold. And this kind of operation pertains to the first kind of action. For the principle of generating some one simple nature is the same as that of generating many; only that a man is more fettered and tied down in operation, if more are required, by reason of the difficulty of combining into one so many natures; which do not readily meet, except in the beaten and ordinary paths of nature. It must be said however that this mode of operation (which looks to simple natures though in a compound body) proceeds from what in nature is constant and…
More questions about this book
- Explain Bacon's core argument in Aphorism I about humanity's relationship with nature. How does he suggest our knowledge and power are fundamentally limited by observation, and what are the implications of this limit?
- Bacon states that "instruments and helps" are needed for both the hand and the understanding (Aphorism II). Describe what Bacon might consider "instruments of the mind." How do these mental tools "supply either suggestions for the understanding or cautions"?
- According to Aphorism IV, human intervention is limited to "put[ting] together or put[ting] asunder natural bodies." If "the rest is done by nature working within," what does this distinction reveal about Bacon's view of human agency versus the inherent power of natural laws?
- Considering Aphorisms I-IV collectively, how does Bacon implicitly critique or depart from earlier philosophical traditions regarding the acquisition of knowledge and the relationship between theory and practice? What new emphasis does he introduce?