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Robert BoyleEnglish chemist, physicist and philosopher, one of the founders of the Royal Society of London
Date of Birth: 25.01.1627
Country:  Great Britain |
Content:
Biography of Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle, an English chemist, physicist, and philosopher, was one of the founders of the Royal Society in London. He is renowned not only for his fundamental discoveries but also for being the world's first scientific organizer. His theory of the corpuscular structure of matter was a significant step towards the development of atomic-molecular theory. Boyle's research laid the foundation for the birth of modern chemistry, as he established chemistry as an independent science with its own problems and methods separate from medicine. By systematizing numerous color reactions and precipitation reactions, Boyle pioneered analytical chemistry.
Early Life and Education
Robert Boyle was born on January 25, 1627, as the thirteenth child of Richard Boyle, the first Duke of Cork, a successful landowner during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He was born in Lismore Castle, one of his father's Irish estates, where he spent his childhood. Boyle received an excellent home education and became a student at Eton College at the age of eight. He studied there for four years before moving to his father's new estate, Stalbridge.
European Travels
Following the customs of the time, at the age of twelve, Robert and his brother embarked on a journey across Europe. He decided to continue his education in Switzerland and Italy, where he stayed for six years. Boyle returned to England in 1644, after his father's death, leaving him a considerable fortune. Stalbridge became a gathering place for famous scientists, writers, and politicians of the time, and Boyle became a regular participant in these meetings. However, he dreamed of moving away from abstract debates and getting involved in practical work.
Scientific Work
Boyle dreamed of having his own laboratory but hesitated to ask his sister for financial support. Instead, he came up with the idea of converting the numerous buildings on his estate into laboratories. The proximity to Oxford and the convenience of meeting friends in London were additional advantages. The upper floor of Stalbridge Castle housed his bedroom, study, a spacious hall, and a rich library. Every week, a coach brought boxes of new books from London, and Boyle read at an incredible speed, sometimes spending entire days engrossed in his reading. Meanwhile, the preparations for equipping the laboratory were nearing completion.
By the end of 1645, Boyle began conducting research in physics, chemistry, and agrochemistry in his laboratory. He enjoyed working on multiple problems simultaneously. He would explain in detail to his assistants what they were expected to do for the day and then retire to his study, where his secretary awaited him. There, he dictated his philosophical treatises. As an encyclopedic scientist, Boyle had a great interest in biology, medicine, physics, chemistry, philosophy, theology, and linguistics. He attributed great importance to laboratory research, and his experiments in chemistry were the most interesting and diverse. Boyle believed that chemistry, originating from alchemy and medicine, could become an independent science.
At first, Boyle focused on extracting infusions from flowers, medicinal herbs, lichens, tree bark, and plant roots. With his assistants, he prepared various infusions, some of which changed color only under the influence of acids, while others changed color in the presence of alkaline substances. However, the most interesting discovery was the purple infusion obtained from litmus lichen. Acids changed its color to red, while alkalis changed it to blue. Boyle ordered the impregnation of paper with this infusion and then dried it. When a piece of this paper was immersed in a test solution, it changed color, indicating whether the solution was acidic or alkaline. This was one of the first substances that Boyle called indicators. As often happens in science, one discovery led to another. While studying an infusion made from gallnuts in water, Boyle discovered that it formed a black solution when combined with iron salts. This black solution could be used as ink. Boyle thoroughly studied the conditions for obtaining ink and compiled the necessary recipes, which were used for producing high-quality black ink for almost a century. The observant scientist could not ignore another property of solutions: when silver was dissolved in nitric acid and a small amount of hydrochloric acid was added, a white precipitate formed, which Boyle called "luna cornea" (silver chloride). If this precipitate was left in an open vessel, it turned black. This was an analytical reaction that reliably indicated the presence of silver in the substance being studied.
Boyle continued to doubt the universal analytical ability of fire and sought other means of analysis. His many years of research showed that substances could decompose into simpler compounds when treated with specific reagents. By using specific reactions, the resulting compounds could be identified. Some substances formed colored precipitates, others released gases with distinctive odors, and still others produced colored solutions. Boyle called the process of decomposing substances and identifying the products through characteristic reactions "analysis." This was a new method of work that gave impetus to the development of analytical chemistry.
However, Boyle had to suspend his scientific work in Stalbridge. Bad news came from Ireland that the castle in Cork had been ravaged by rebellious peasants, dramatically reducing the estate's income. In early 1652, Boyle had to move to his ancestral estate. Much of his time was spent resolving financial problems, appointing a more experienced manager, and occasionally overseeing his work.
In 1654, Boyle relocated to Oxford, where he continued his experiments with the assistance of Wilhelm Homberg. Their research focused mainly on gases and the development of corpuscular theory.
Having learned about the works of the German physicist Otto von Guericke from scientific publications, Boyle decided to replicate his experiments and invented an original design for an air pump. The first prototype of this machine was built with the help of Robert Hooke. Using the pump, the researchers were able to remove almost all air from a vessel. However, all attempts to prove the presence of ether in the empty vessel remained futile.
"There is no such thing as ether," Boyle concluded. He decided to name the empty space a vacuum, a term meaning "empty" in Latin.
The crisis that engulfed England in the late 1650s disrupted his scientific work. Supporters of the monarchy, outraged by the harsh dictatorship of Oliver Cromwell, rose up again in rebellion. Arrests, killings, and bloody civil strife became commonplace in the country.
Boyle withdrew to his estate, where he could work in peace. He decided to summarize the results of his research over the past ten years. In his study, Boyle had two secretaries working almost around the clock. One transcribed his thoughts, while the other rewrote existing drafts. Within a few months, they completed Boyle's first major scientific work, "New Experiments and Observations Touching Cold," which was published in 1660. Without wasting a day, Boyle began working on his next work, "The Skeptical Chymist." In these books, Boyle demolished the theories of Aristotle on the four elements, which had prevailed for over two thousand years, and Descartes' "ether" and three alchemical principles. Naturally, this work drew severe criticism from followers of Aristotle and Cartesian philosophers. However, Boyle's arguments were based on experimentation, making his evidence irrefutable. Many of his ideological opponents were forced to acknowledge his discoveries, including the physicist Christian Huygens, a proponent of the existence of ether.
After ascending to the throne, King Charles II, the political situation in the country somewhat normalized, allowing Boyle to conduct research in Oxford. He occasionally visited his sister Catherine in London. Boyle's laboratory assistant in Oxford was now the young physicist Richard Townley.
Together, Boyle and Townley made one of the fundamental discoveries in physics, establishing that the change in the volume of a gas is inversely proportional to the change in pressure. This meant that by knowing the change in the volume of a vessel, the change in gas pressure could be accurately calculated. It was the greatest discovery of the 17th century. Boyle first described it in 1662 in his work "A Defense of the Doctrine Touching the Spring and Weight of the Air" and modestly referred to it as a hypothesis. Fifteen years later, in France, Henry Power confirmed Boyle's discovery, establishing the same relationship. Essentially, this was the first law of the emerging field of physical chemistry.
Furthermore, Boyle demonstrated that substances could evaporate even when they do not do so under normal conditions, such as ice. He was the first to describe the expansion of solids upon heating and cooling.
By cooling an iron pipe filled with water, Boyle observed it bursting under the influence of ice. He also showed, for the first time in the history of science, that water can boil and remain slightly warm when its pressure drops.
However, while making new discoveries, Boyle could not always explain their true causes. For example, when observing the rise of liquid in capillary tubes, he did not understand that he had discovered the phenomenon of surface tension. This would be achieved much later by the English physicist George Gabriel Stokes.
Boyle also discovered that air changes after burning substances within it and that some metals increase in weight when heated. However, he could not draw any theoretical conclusions from these works. It should be noted that this was not Boyle's fault, as he was at the very beginning of experimental physics.
As the leading English physicist and chemist, Boyle took the initiative to organize the Society of Sciences, which soon became known as the Royal Society of London. Boyle served as the president of this scientific organization from 1680 until his death. During his lifetime, the Royal Society became a recognized center of science, attracting the most prominent scientists of the time, including John Locke, Isaac Newton, and Robert Hooke.
Boyle found himself at the height of his creative powers, and one scientific work after another emerged from his pen, covering philosophy, physics, and chemistry. In 1664, he published "Experiments and Considerations Touching Colours," showcasing his research on colors. By this time, Boyle was at the pinnacle of his fame. He was often invited to the palace, as even the powerful of the world considered it an honor to spend a few minutes with the "illustrious light of English science." He received honors everywhere and was even offered membership in the Royal Mines Company. The following year, he was appointed a director of the East India Company. However, all of this could not distract him from his main work. Boyle used all the income he received from this position to support the development of science. In Oxford, Boyle established one of the first scientific laboratories in Europe, where many renowned scientists worked alongside him.
More of his books were published, including "Hydrostatical Paradoxes," "The Origin of Forms and Qualities According to the Corpuscular Philosophy," and "On Mineral Waters." In the latter, he provided an excellent description of the methods for analyzing mineral waters.
For several years, Boyle studied a substance known as the "luminous stone" or phosphorus. In 1680, he obtained white phosphorus, which was later named "Boyle's phosphorus."
As time passed, Boyle's health declined significantly. He could no longer oversee the work in the laboratories or actively participate in research. However, he needed to document the knowledge he had acquired during his nearly thirty-five years of research. With this purpose in mind, Boyle traveled to his ancestral estate. Occasionally, he visited Cambridge to converse with Newton, Oxford to see old friends, or London to meet with sophists. But he felt most comfortable at home, in his study surrounded by books.
Now, he was primarily interested in philosophical problems. Boyle was known as one of the greatest theologians of his time. It seemed that these were incompatible disciplines, but Boyle himself wrote, "Doubts and fears have filled my soul, casting doubt on the fundamental truths of religion."
To read biblical texts in their original form, Boyle even studied Greek and ancient Hebrew. During his lifetime, he established annual scientific lectures on theology and the history of religion.
The third aspect of Boyle's activities was related to literature. He had a good writing style and composed several poems and treatises on moral subjects.
Robert Boyle died on December 30, 1691, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, the resting place of notable figures in English history.
In his will, Boyle instructed that his entire capital be used to promote science in England and support the ongoing work of the Royal Society. He also allocated funds for the annual scientific lectures on physics and theology.
