Boyle's great merit as a scientific investigator is that he carried out the principles which
Francis Bacon preached in the
Novum Organum. Yet he would not avow himself a follower of Bacon, or indeed of any other teacher. On several occasions he mentions that in order to keep his judgment as unprepossessed as might be with any of the modern theories of philosophy, until he was "provided of experiments" to help him judge of them, he refrained from any study of the
Atomical and the
Cartesian systems, and even of the Novum Organum itself, though he admits to "transiently consulting" them about a few particulars. Nothing was more alien to his mental temperament than the spinning of hypotheses. He regarded the acquisition of knowledge as an end in itself, and in consequence he gained a wider outlook on the aims of scientific inquiry than had been enjoyed by his predecessors for many centuries. This, however, did not mean that he paid no attention to the practical application of science nor that he despised knowledge which tended to use.
He himself was an
alchemist; and believing the
transmutation of metals to be a possibility, he carried out experiments in the hope of effecting it; and he was instrumental in obtaining the repeal, in 1689, of the statute of
Henry IV against
multiplying gold and
silver. With all the important work he accomplished in
physics - the enunciation of
Boyle's law, the discovery of the part taken by air in the propagation of
sound, and investigations on the expansive force of freezing water, on
specific gravities and
refractive powers, on
crystals, on
electricity, on
colour, on
hydrostatics, etc.-
chemistry was his peculiar and favourite study. His first book on the subject was
The Sceptical Chymist, published in 1661, in which he criticized the "experiments whereby vulgar
Spagyrists are wont to endeavour to evince their
Salt, Sulphur and
Mercury to be the true Principles of Things.". For him chemistry was the science of the composition of substances, not merely an adjunct to the arts of the alchemist or the physician. He advanced towards the modern view of elements as the undecomposable constituents of material bodies; and understanding the distinction between
mixtures and
compounds, he made considerable progress in the technique of detecting their ingredients, a process which he designated by the term "analysis". He further supposed that the elements were ultimately composed of
particles of various sorts and sizes, into which, however, they were not to be resolved in any known way. Applied chemistry had to thank him for improved methods and for an extended knowledge of individual substances. He also studied the chemistry of
combustion and of
respiration, and conducted experiments in
physiology, where, however, he was hampered by the "tenderness of his nature" which kept him from anatomical
dissections, especially of living animals, though he knew them to be "most instructing".
Besides being a busy natural philosopher, Boyle devoted much time to
theology, showing a very decided leaning to the practical side and an indifference to controversial
polemics. At the
Restoration he was favourably received at court, and in 1665 would have received the provostship of
Eton, if he would have taken orders; but this he refused to do on the ground that his writings on religious subjects would have greater weight coming from a layman than a paid minister of the Church. As a director of the
East India Company he spent large sums in promoting the spread of
Christianity in the East, contributing liberally to
missionary societies, and to the expenses of translating the
Bible or portions of it into various languages. He founded the
Boyle lectures, intended to defend the
Christian religion against those he considered "notorious infidels, namely
atheists, deists, pagans, Jews and
Muslims", with the provison that controversies between Christians were not to be mentioned. In 2004, the Boyle Lectures were resurrected in London .
In person Boyle was tall, slender and of a pale countenance. His constitution was far from robust, and throughout his life he suffered from feeble health and low spirits. While his scientific work procured him an extraordinary reputation among his contemporaries, his private character and virtues, the charm of his social manners, his wit and powers of conversation, endeared him to a large circle of personal friends. He was never married. His writings are exceedingly voluminous, and his style is clear and straightforward, though undeniably verbose.
In 2004
The Robert Boyle Science Room was opened in the
Lismore Heritage Centre, near his birthplace, dedicated to his life and works where students have the opportunity of studying science and participating in scientific experiments.
