英国伦敦会传教士慕维廉所翻译的《格致新法》是最早向中国介绍培根《新工具》的译作。慕维廉对培根《新工具》的翻译实际有《格致新理》、《格致新法》、《格致新机》三个版本，文章通过考察《格致新法》的内容及时代背景，认为慕维廉的传教策略整影响了他对译本的取向和调整，合译者沈毓桂也在其中发挥了重要的作用。该书在当时产生的直接影响有限，但从长远来看，对于培根思想在中国的传播和近代中国的科学启蒙，思想解放仍发挥了积极的作用。

The translation of Gezhi New Law by William Muirhead, a missionary of the London Missionary Society, is the first translation to introduce Bacon's New Tools to China. William Muirhead's translation of Bacon's "New Tools" actually has three versions, namely, "Ge Zhi Xin Li", "Ge Zhi Xin Fa" and "Ge Zhi Xin Ji". Through investigating the content and the background of the times of "Ge Zhi Xin Fa", the article believes that William Muirhead's missionary strategy has influenced his orientation and adjustment of the translation, and his co translator Shen Yugui has also played an important role in it. The direct impact of this book at that time was limited, but in the long run, it still played a positive role in the dissemination of Bacon's ideas in China and the scientific enlightenment in modern China, and the liberation of ideas.