Telesio studied in Padua but resided in southern Italy. The first two volumes of his major work, De rerum natura juxta propria principia appeared in 1565; the work was completed in nine volumes in 1586. Telesio criticized Aristotelian science for its vacuous abstractions such as form, activity, potential, arguing instead for an empirical and mechanical approach to nature. Although highly controversial, and indeed condemned by the church, Telesio’s work influenced subsequent empiricists including Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes.