The Sceptical Chymist - Robert Boyle

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The Sceptical Chymist - Robert Boyle

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Robert Boyle (1627-1691) is mainly known as the "Father of Modern Chemistry" (although he was an alchemist) and was one of the founding members of the Royal Society - which was the world's first international scientific organization. He was a notable figure in the history of "natural philosophy" (science) and, like many scientists at that time, was a Christian. His contributions to chemistry in particular were significant and marked an important transition point in the history of chemical research. Perhaps his main contribution was in making chemistry into a respectable and systematic part of natural philosophy by generating an experimental methodology for alchemists which emphasized evidence, repeatability, public verification and scrutiny of experimental results, quantification, and the use of pure materials to have more control over accuracy of interpretation (impurities often produced mixed and contradictory results which caused confusion more than clarity). Boyle is mostly known for verifying and discovering the proportional relationship of Pressure and Volume for gases by holding the Temperature constant, namely, he verified one side of the Ideal Gas Law (PV = nRT). If you are looking for the source on that particular discovery (how he derived PV = k), please see The Laws Of Gases: Memoirs By Robert Boyle And E. H. Amagat (1899).

The Sceptical Chymist (1661), which was published 1 year after the formation of the Royal Society and contains the research spirit of that organization, is probably his most notable work and it discusses numerous chemical and methodological issues during that time period. The appeals for a uniform language for alchemists is one of the highlights of this book since there was much disorganization in alchemical language since the way many chemical procedures had been done at that time, and before, were often times secret or "occult". Though, alchemy was not disastrous or chaotic, it was often ambiguous or unclear. Boyle followed the Baconian method of induction, which was not that different than the medieval scientific method, in the "Sceptical Chymist" since he constantly appeals to experimental evidence and systematic procedures to validate claims and numerical models on natural phenomenon. A big portion of this book is on the procedures and results of many chemical experiments. Here he does controlled chemical experiments with details on the apparatus used, observations made, and followed by conclusions. Interestingly, there is also talk on the Bible and its influence on Boyle's views of nature and how it inspired his empiricism and objective search for truth in the midst of alchemy. He also asserted strongly that general experiments challenged the assumption that chemical elements were only the classic four: earth, fire, air, and water. He argues that there were more than four elements that make up matter. In the books he defines the term "element" and views substances as being made of primary particles or bodies (what the atomists more than 2000 years ago called "atoms"). One can expect a good amount of discourse on methodology and principles of chemistry throughout the text. His legacy is still felt today in process design and chemistry of gases via "analysis".

The language of this book is not that bad, and you get used to certain spelling of words since this is simply a copy of an old copy of the "Sceptical Chymist" from 1661. Over all, this is an important work for any Chemist or Chemical Engineer or general historian of science.