Robert Boyle's Accomplishments

In chemistry, there are many scientists who have made excellent discoveries, but some stand out among the rest, and Robert Boyle is one of these scientists. Robert Boyle is one of the most important scientists of his time, with many discoveries throughout his lifetime. During his early, mid, and later life, he made some of the most important discoveries that are still used in science and chemistry today. Boyle was influenced by many people throughout his life, including Galileo Galilei, who played in the scientific revolution and was one of the most important people in astronomy. Without his discoveries, science couldn’t and wouldn’t be what it is today.

One of Boyle’s most well known discoveries is Boyle’s law. This law was named in his honor for being the first to discover it. According to the Glenn Research Center, for a given mass, at constant temperature, the pressure times the volume is a constant, meaning when the volume increases, the pressure goes down, and when the volume decreases, the pressure goes up The formula for his law is p * V = C. In the formula, p stands for pressure, V stands for volume, and C stands for a constant. When Boyle’s Law is combined with Charles’s law, it will produce the Ideal Gas Law, which states The law states that P × V = n × (R) × T, where P is pressure, V is volume, n is the

number of moles of molecules, T is the absolute temperature, and R is the gas constant. Some common, real-life applications of Boyle’s law include, checking the pressure of your tires, spraying aerosol cans, syringes, and soda cans.
Not only was Boyle a famous chemist, but he also dabbled in physical science. In 1660, Boyle’s first scientific work was published. Titled, New Experiments Physico-Mechanicall, Touching the Spring of the Air, and Its Affects, his observation of the physical nature of air allowed many other chemists following him to have a basis for research. Elaborating on his studies, Boyle incorporated further research into an additional work in 1662 which initiated the understanding of Boyle’s Law itself.
For a well established man in the 1600s, Boyle was destined to be opinionated religiously. He firmly believed in God and science, therefore balancing his work with his personal life. Boyle believed that the Earth’s creation was produced by the Lord, but done in a way that can be scientifically analyzed.
As a founding member of the Royal Society which was introduced in the 1660s, Robert Boyle paved the way for future chemists.

The group is still active today. Around this time, Boyle employed Robert Hooke to help with his current and upcoming experiments, together, they built the air pump, which was used in many of Boyle’s experiments. Just as it sounds, the group of natural philosophers received royal approval. In 1663, the group received a new title of ‘The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge.’ The motto of the society, “Nullius in verba,” meaning “take nobody’s word for it,” has held true to the foundation of the

group.
Robert William Boyle was born in on the 25th of January in 1627 in Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland. He was born the seventh son, and fourteenth child of Richard Boyle, 1st earl of Cork and Catherine Fenton. His father arrived in Ireland in from England in 1588, and his mother was born the daughter of Sir Geoffrey Fenton, who was the former Secretary of State of Ireland. As a child, he and his brothers were sent off to live with another family, where he was tortured in multiple languages including Latin, Greek, and French. At the age of eight, his mother died. Soon after, he was sent to Eton College. After spending three years at Eton College, Boyle decided to travel with a French tutor. During this time the visited Italy and stayed the winter of 1641 in Florence studying the, elderly, but still living Galileo Galilei. When he returned to England, he devoted his life to writing and scientific research.
In 1655, Boyle moved to Oxford. There he joined group of philosophers, that foreshadowed the Royal Society. This group helped him with his experiments, and later helped in some of his most important discoveries. Some of these discoveries included that it was necessary for air to establish combustion, for animals to breathe, and for sound to be transmitted. He also proved the inversed relationship between the volume of a gas and its pressure. Thus soon becoming Boyle’s law. His law first appeared in the second edition of “New Experiments Physio-Mechanical, Touching the Spring Air and its Effects” in 1662. There, Boyle argued that science could and should bring material benefits to mankind.
Another thing that Boyle is famous for is for being the first to come up with a procedure to use during scientific experiments, later being named “The Scientific Method”. First, an observation has to be made of what you are working with. After the observation, you must form a question that you believe can be answered by the hypothesis. The hypothesis is what you believe will happen. Once a hypothesis has been formed, it must be tested. This is done by conducting a carefully designed and controlled experiment. The experiment is one of the most important steps in the scientific method, as it is used to prove a hypothesis right or wrong, and to formulate scientific theories. This method has set the guidelines for all scientific experiments for hundreds of years, and helped science become what it is today.
In 1669, his health started to get the best of him, causing him to have the need to stay at home, where he did until his passing. While at home, he looked over and revised all of his past experiments. He stopped nearly all outside communication unless it was of utmost importance and was urgent. He even stopped associations with The Royal Society, which he had been a founding member of. He rarely ever had people over, and when he did, they could only come at certain times and on certain days of the week.
Robert Boyle died on New Year’s Eve in 1691 at the age of 64. He left one of the biggest marks on the history of science and chemistry. He is know for several things, but the most important are Boyle’s Law, and for making the first version of the Scientific Method. Without Boyle, science and chemistry would not have the advances and be where it is today.