Contents
Robert Boyle
Formulating Boyle’s law and helping make chemistry an experimental science.
New Experiments on Air · The Sceptical Chymist
- Born
- 25 January 1627
- Birthplace
- Lismore, Ireland
- Died
- 31 December 1691
More people
Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher whose experiments investigated air, matter and chemical change. He worked with Robert Hooke and helped establish the Royal Society.
Early life
Large household
Born at Lismore Castle, the fourteenth child of the Earl of Cork and Catherine Fenton.
European education
Attended Eton, then travelled on the continent with a tutor before returning to England in 1644.
Career
- 1650s
Laboratory work
Established laboratories at Stalbridge and later Oxford.
- 1659
Air pump
Worked with Robert Hooke to build an improved vacuum pump.
- 1660
Royal Society
Helped found the society devoted to experimental inquiry.
- 1668
London
Moved into the household of his sister Katherine, Lady Ranelagh.
Discoveries and writings
New Experiments on Air
Reported experiments using the vacuum pump.
The Sceptical Chymist
Challenged established explanations of the composition of matter.
Pressure and volume
Published the relationship now called Boyle’s law.
Beyond work
Intellectual partnership
Shared scientific interests and a laboratory with his sister Katherine.
Religious writing
Wrote theological works and funded efforts to circulate religious texts.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Science History Institute biography ↗Photo: Johann Kerseboom. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
