Robert Boyle was born in Ireland in 1627 and lived in England for the major part of his life. he was a chemist, physicist, and natural philosopher, which is a way of saying a “student of nature” before the full development of the methods of modern science. He lived in an era of deep religious beliefs, witchcraft and superstition and his chemistry had its roots in the alchemist’s beliefs of the day but went beyond that in his careful observations and measurements.
Boyle is best known for putting forth Boyle’s Law which, simply put, defines the relationship of the volume of a gas, such as air, to changes in temperature and pressure. He determined that the relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas at a constant temperature is one of inverse proportion. That is, as one - pressure - increases, the other - volume - decreases and vise versa.
Foundation of the Royal Society
Boyle was in contact with the leading scientific minds of the time and joined an informal group of mathematicians, philosophers, and physicians in the 1650’s. This group was later formally chartered as the Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, today simply know as the Royal Society. This society’s members were, and still are, the brightest of the scientific community. For example, Sir Isaac Newton was a member and served as President of the society from 1703 until his death in 1727.
Boyle’s Predictions
In the 1660’s Boyle wrote a fascinating set of twenty four predictions for the future - a sort of “wish list” of things he envisioned for posterity. Only recently, in honor of the 350th Anniversary of the founding of the Royal Academy have these documents been put on exhibit for the general public. Some of the predictions from his list include:
- Simple ones typical of any man’s hope for a better future such as “The Prolongation of Life” and the “Art of Flying”
- Others like "making armor light and extremely hard" (Kevlar body armor), “A ship to sail with All Winds, and a Ship not to be sunk" (unsinkable motor boats), "practicable and certain way of finding longitudes" (modern navigation), and "potent drugs to alter or Exalt Imagination, Waking, Memory and other functions and appease pain, procure innocent sleep, harmless dreams etc" (stimulants and antidepressants).
- One of the most bizarre might be a prediction to what we normally call “scratch and sniff” paper used as an advertising method for soaps, cologne, and perfumes which he describes as "Varnishes perfumable by Rubbing”.
Of the twenty four predictions, only four have not been realized, such as “The “Transmutation of Species in Minerals, Animals, and Vegetables”.
The list does give the reader an insight into one of the most imaginative if not truly prophetic minds of the 17th Century.
Sources:
Alleyne, Richard (2010) Robert Boyle's prophetic scientific predictions from the 17th century go on display at the Royal Society at Telegraph.uk.co
Young, John. "Robert Boyle". The Literary Encyclopedia. 16 December 2004
Tony De Vita - My basic background was in mathematics. Having received a B.S. summa cum laude, from Wilkes College, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. My first job was ...
