Robert Boyle's Accomplishments

On December 30, 1691, the influential and scholarly Robert Boyle left science with a strong legacy of discoveries and experiments. The Irish physicist, chemist, and natural philosopher brought significant discoveries to chemistry, the theory of matter, and pneumatics. With much of his time being devoted to writing and studying, Boyle became interested in natural philosophy, religious topics, and ethical issues; even though some of these topics did not have much of an overlap with science, Boyle found a way to learn more about medicine, physics, chemistry, and natural history. In Boyle’s early life, he was influenced to live a successful life for himself. Coming from a family of fourteen children, Boyle’s father was very rich and powerful so he could support his family. Throughout Boyle’s life, he took advantage of his father’s wealth and power so he could learn more about science. When he was young, he went to school and was privately tutored so that he could advance in his studies. Towards the end of his father’s life, Boyle returned home to inherit his father’s land. Not only was Boyle’s father’s wealth and power a social advantage in Ireland, but it helped his children succeed, especially Robert Boyle who became the intelligent scientist
with a legacy of discoveries.
Throughout his scientific career, Boyle worked with many other scientists to make new discoveries and learn about various topics in science.
In 1659, Boyle collaborated with Robert Hooke and completed the construction of their famous air pump; they used this invention to study pneumatics. After creating this, they were able to discover air properties such as combustion and respiration, air pressure and the vacuum, which were two inventions to appear in Robert Boyle’s first scientific publication. With this creation, Boyle was also able to come up with his own law that states the inverse relationship between the pressure of gas and the volume of gas in 1662. This event was a major breakthrough for Robert Boyle’s science
career.
Boyle did, however, make many other achievements in science principally in chemistry. Through his many achievements, Boyle published many works that contain his scientific investigations. To support his findings, Boyle brought forward extensive evidence for his experiments from concepts of small elements to principles which compounds could reduce by chemical analysis. Through Boyle’s work and studies, he brought forth why it is necessary to support new discoveries; this is important for modern day science whether a professional scientist is performing the experiment or a high school chemistry student is trying to prove their hypothesis on their science fair project. Not only did Boyle influence scientists of his time, but he still serves as a role model for present-day scientists.
To go along with Boyle’s discoveries, he received many awards and honors. In 1662, Boyle obtained a charter for the Royal Society and became not only a charter member of the society but one of the first council members. When Boyle moved to London in 1668, he was offered a peerage and a bishopric, but he declined these offers because he wished to remain a regular citizen in society. Even though he received many accolades for his scientific merit, Boyle remained humble about his discoveries.
In conclusion, not only did Boyle’s discoveries lead to advanced findings, but his scientific persona still remains prominent for modern-day scientists. The discovery of air’s properties allows society to learn about different properties that are used every day. Boyle’s attitude that all discoveries should be backed-up by scientific evidence is still enforced today’s experiments. But besides these thoughts about science, Boyle’s humbleness is inspiring to many people today. All in all, Boyle is an inspiration not just to scientists for his scientific discoveries but also to regular citizens that want to learn more about science.