Robert Boyle

Robert Boyle (25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist, and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of modern chemistry, and one of the pioneers of modern experimental scientific method. He is best known for Boyle's law, which describes the inversely proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas, if the temperature is kept constant within a closed system. Among his works, *The Sceptical Chymist* is seen as a cornerstone book in the field of chemistry. He was a devout and pious Anglican and is noted for his works in theology. Boyle was born at Lismore Castle in County Waterford, Ireland, the seventh son and fourteenth child of the 1st Earl of Cork. He received private tutoring and was sent to Eton College. He traveled abroad, studying Galileo Galilei in Florence. Returning to England in 1644, he devoted his life to scientific research, becoming a prominent member of the 'Invisible College.' He moved to Ireland in 1652 but found it unconducive to his chemical work. In 1654, he moved to Oxford to pursue his research more successfully. He devised improvements to Otto von Guericke's vacuum pump with Robert Hooke. His work on the spring of air led to the formulation of Boyle's law. In 1663, the Invisible College became The Royal Society, and Boyle was a council member. He declined the presidency in 1680 due to oaths. In 1668, he moved to London, residing with his elder sister, Katherine Jones, Lady Ranelagh, with whom he shared a lifelong intellectual partnership. In 1669, his health began to fail, and he gradually withdrew from public life. He died in London in 1691 from paralysis. Boyle's will endowed the Boyle Lectures to defend Christianity.