The culture of science and the rhetoric of scientism: From Francis Bacon to the Darwin fish

The culture of modern science continues to establish its public identity by appealing to values and historical conceptions that reflect its appropriation of various religious ideals during its formative period, most especially in the rhetoric of Francis Bacon. These elements have persisted because they continue to achieve similar goals, but the scientific culture's growing need for autonomy has required their secularization. The Darwin fish emblem manifests this secular reshaping. This essay shows this by tracing out the lineaments of this older Baconian world view in the scientistic ideology of those whose identity is compressed into this symbol.