Robert Boyle was born January 25, 1627 in Lismore Castle, Ireland into a Protestant family. As a young boy Robert would grow up in an extremely wealthy environment as his father, Richard Boyle, was the First Earl of Cork while his grandfather was the secretary of state for Ireland. At the age of twelve, Robert and his brother would travel around Europe studying with their tutor Isaac Marcombes for six years. During this time Boyle would study mathematics and physics and it wasn’t until Gallelio’s death that Boyle began to spark an interest in philosophy. As a Protestant, Boyle felt a connection to Gallelio’s studies and how he was treated by the Roman Catholic Church, which would be the start of Boyle’s work of interconnecting philosophy with mathematics and mechanics. In 1643, Boyle would hear of his father’s death and a year later would make his way back to England.
After coming back to England, Boyle saw the country in a civil war and was able to stay at a house his father left him for roughly six years. During this time, Boyle would study natural philosophy and mechanics, which would later shape his own philosophical ideas and arguments. These studies would help Boyle found the “invisible college” where he would travel to London to discuss scientific experiments with other scholars and form the views of the New Natural Philosophy. Boyle would also look at the works of Copernicus, helping strengthen his belief of atomic theory.
In 1654 Boyle would attend college in Oxford where he would carry out a number of experiments. He would meet other scientists such as John Wilkins and John Locke, which would form a group together called “The Experimental Philosophy Club”. While performing experiments with the help of Robert Hooke using gas and pressure, Boyle would create Boyle’s law. Boyle and Hooke would continue to study the properties of gasses and pressure, eventually publishing an appendix. At this time Boyle also held a strong belief in alchemy, which caused him to study the atomic theory and perform numerous experiments on different substances. While performing his experiments Boyle would write one of his most famous works, the Sceptical Chymist, in which he would argue Aristotle’s views on the elements.
During his experiments with alchemy, Boyle would come to the same conclusions of Descartes, that the world was made of small particles. Boyle would continue to study atomism which would help him form his own ideas about mechanical philosophy. As Boyle continued to study alchemy, he would find himself continually trying to connect chemistry with the natural world and attempting to find the secrets of alchemy, although with no success. These experiments concerning alchemy would help him to create the Origines of Formes and Qualities, which would ultimately prove that alchemy was not possible. In 1660, Boyle would come together with William Petty, Christopher Wrath and John Wilkins to create the Royal Society, a group of scholars dedicated to learning about the sciences of the world.
In 1668, Boyle would leave Oxford to live with his sister in London. It was while staying with his sister, Boyle would make connections between science and religion, using his experiments to study the world that god had created. At this time Boyle would also play a big role in the Royal Society and in 1680 would be elected as president of the Royal Society, although he did not take up the offer. Boyle would continue to perform experiments and publish writings until his