Scientia potentia est
The phrase "" (or "" or also "") is a Latin aphorism meaning "knowledge is power", commonly attributed to Sir Francis Bacon. The expression "" ('knowledge itself is power') occurs in Bacon's Meditationes Sacrae (1597). The exact phrase "" (knowledge is power) was written for the first time in the 1668 version of Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, who was a secretary to Bacon as a young man. The related phrase "" is often translated as "wisdom is power". History Origins and parallels A proverb in practically the same wording is found in Hebrew, in the Biblical Book of Proverbs (24:5): . This was translated in the Latin Vulgata as "" and in the King James Version as "A wise man is strong, a man of knowledge increaseth strength". Thomas Hobbes The first known reference of the exact phrase appeared in the Latin edition of Leviathan (1668; the English version had been published in 1651). This passage from Part 1 ("De Homine"), Chapter X ("De Potentia, Dignitate et Honore") occurs in a list of various attributes of man which constitute power; in this list, "sciences" or "the sciences" are given a minor position: In the English version this passage reads as thus: On a later work, De Corpore (1655), also written in Latin, Hobbes expanded the same idea: In Hobbes and the social contract tradition (1988), Jean Hampton indicates that this quote is 'after Bacon' and in a footnote, that 'Hobbes was Bacon's secretary as a young man and had philosophical discussions with him' (Aubrey 1898, 331). Francis Bacon The closest expression in Bacon's works is, perhaps, the expression "", found in his Meditationes Sacrae (1597), which is translated as "knowledge itself is power": One of many differing English translations of this section includes the following: Interpretation of the notion of power meant by Bacon must therefore take into account his distinction between the power of knowing and the power of working and acting, the opposite of what is assumed when the maxim is taken out of context. Indeed, the quotation has become a cliche. In another place, Bacon wrote, "Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known the effect cannot be produced. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed; and that which in contemplation is as the cause is in operation as the rule." Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his essay Old Age, included in the collection Society and Solitude (1870): Wissen ist Macht in Germany After the 1871 unification of Germany, "" (Knowledge is power, geographical knowledge is world power) was often used in German geography and the public discussion to support efforts for a German colonial empire after 1880. Julius Perthes e.g., used the motto for his publishing house. However, this installation of geographical research followed popular requests and was not imposed by the government. Especially Count Bismarck was not much interested in German colonial adventures; his envoy Gustav Nachtigal started with the first protective areas, but was