1. Philosophy 22N Spring, 2004 G. J. Mattey Robert Boyle

2. Vital Statistics • Born, 1627, Ireland • Died, 1691, London • Single • Son of the first Earl of Cork • Founding member of the Royal Society

3. Important Events • Early years-1639, educated at Eton • 1639-1644, grand tour of Europe, had religious conversion experience • 1644, settled at Stalbridge in Dorset • 1649, set up home laboratory and commenced experiments • 1655, moved to Oxford and joined a circle of natural philosophers • 1657, began experiments with air pump

4. Important events (cont.) • 1660, helped found the Royal Society, published first results on experiments with air pump with which he was assisted by Hooke • 1662, established “Boyle’s Law,” relating the volume of a gas to its pressure (under constant temperature) • 1668, moved to London • 1668-91, published many books • 1692, first Boyle Lectures by Richard Bentley