Michael Hunter, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK
Published online: September 2011
DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0002372.pub2
Robert Boyle (1627–1691) was a British natural philosopher who pioneered systematic experimentation, using it to vindicate his corpuscularian view of nature. Boyle also argued influentially for the usefulness of science, and reflected deeply on epistemological issues arising from science and on the relations of science and religion.
Keywords: experiment; corpuscularianism; alchemy; utility; design argument
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Figure 1. Boyle. Mezzontint by John Faber the younger of the bust of Boyle by Giovanni Battista Guelfi which was installed in Queen Caroline's hermitage in Richmond Park in 1733.
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| Further Reading | |
| book Boyle R (1996) A Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Received Notion of Nature. Davis EB and Hunter M (eds) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. | |
| book Boyle R (1999–2000) The Works of Robert Boyle, 14 vols. Hunter M and Davis EB (eds) London: Pickering & Chatto. | |
| book Frank RG (1980) Harvey and the Oxford Physiologists: A Study of Scientific Ideas and Social Interaction. Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press. | |
| book Hunter M (2000) Robert Boyle: Scrupulosity and Science. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. | |
| book Hunter M (2009) Boyle: Between God and Science. New Haven/London: Yale University Press. | |
| book Hunter M (ed.) (1994) Robert Boyle Reconsidered. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. | |
| book Principe LM (1998) The Aspiring Adept: Robert Boyle and His Alchemical Quest. Princeton: Princeton University Press. | |
| book Shapin S and Schaffer S (1985) Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle and the Experimental Life. Princeton: Princeton University Press. | |
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