The first person to put forward the slogan "knowledge is power" was named Francis Bacon.

He was a famous materialist philosopher in the Middle Ages. He was born on January 22, 1561, in an aristocratic family in England. As soon as he graduated from Cambridge University, he served in the British Ambassador's Office, and later became a member of Parliament, Lord Privy Seal and Lord Chancellor, and was made a Viscount. He was very interested in philosophy and resigned from his official position in his later years to specialize in philosophy and scientific research.

He compared scholasticism to idols and believed that in order to obtain real knowledge, one must break idols, directly observe and study the natural world, and obtain correct understanding through experiments and scientific induction.

Extended information:

Bacon’s greatest contribution to philosophy is that he proposed a series of principles of materialist empiricism; he formulated a systematic inductive logic and emphasized the role of experiments in understanding. . Marx and Engels called Bacon "the first founder of British materialism" and "the true ancestor of the entire experimental science". This is a scientific summary of the characteristics of Bacon's philosophy.

Bacon believed that the world is an objective existence independent of human will, and human knowledge (cognition) can only be obtained from the objective external world through perceptual experience. He said: "Man is the servant and interpreter of nature, so all he can do and understand is what he has seen of natural processes in fact and thought."

He believes that the reality of knowledge and the reality of existence are consistent, and "the difference between them is nothing more than direct light and reflected light." This is a quite thorough materialist reflection theory.

It is worth noting that although Bacon emphasized the importance of perceptual experience in people's understanding, he did not make this point absolute. He only emphasized that the senses are a necessary channel for people to understand the outside world, and It does not say that the knowledge obtained through the senses is correct, nor does it say that this kind of knowledge is all knowledge.

On the contrary, he believed that the senses themselves have limitations. For example, the senses may not be able to clearly recognize objects that are not very visible, or are too small, or are too far away in space, so he said : "It is a great mistake to conclude that the senses are the measure of all things." This passage is in response to the proposition put forward by the ancient Greek philosopher Protagoras that "man is the measure of all things."

It can be seen from here that Bacon is indeed a profound philosopher. In the past, we often had a misunderstanding that Bacon only emphasized perceptual knowledge and completely ignored rational knowledge. This is not the case.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Knowledge is power (classic quote)

People's Daily Online-The first person to propose "knowledge is power" - Bacon