#robertboyle — Public Fediverse posts

Robert Boyle was born in County Waterford, South East Ireland. His father was Richard Boyle and his mother was Catherine Fenton, daughter of Geoffrey Fenton, secretary of state for Ireland. 10 facts about the man famous for Boyle's Law.

https://topicaltens.blogspot.com/2026/01/25-january-robert-boyle.html

#BirthAnniversary #RobertBoyle #Science

Robert Boyle got a brief mention in something I wrote many years ago. Since then, he has continually re-emerged in my consciousness, provoking within me both curiosity and disquiet as he does so.

The author of "The Christian Virtuoso" helped engineer the early modern understanding of the mechanical universe and associated that understanding with Protestant piety.

When we remember the Boyle family's motto - "God's Providence Is Mine Inheritance" -- and that family''s role in the English colonization of Ireland, we might see foreshadowed in Robert Boyle that combination of a sense of divine election, a belief in the right and duty to rule, and a confidence in the providential workings of a God in nature that would infuse so many English settlers around the world - especially those in what would later become the USA.

https://www.rct.uk/collection/405637/robert-boyle-1627-1691

#RobertBoyle #History #Exceptionalism #SettlerColonialism #MechanicalPhilosophy #England #USA

Robert Boyle got a brief mention in something I wrote many years ago. Since then, he has continually re-emerged in my consciousness, provoking within me both curiosity and disquiet as he does so.

The author of "The Christian Virtuoso" helped engineer the early modern understanding of the mechanical universe and associated that understanding with Protestant piety.

When we remember the Boyle family's motto - "God's Providence Is Mine Inheritance" -- and that family''s role in the English colonization of Ireland, we might see foreshadowed in Robert Boyle that combination of a sense of divine election, a belief in the right and duty to rule, and a confidence in the providential workings of a God in nature that would infuse so many English settlers around the world - especially those in what would later become the USA.

https://www.rct.uk/collection/405637/robert-boyle-1627-1691

#RobertBoyle #History #Exceptionalism #SettlerColonialism #MechanicalPhilosophy #England #USA

A Little Bit of Science History Repeating Itself: Boyle’s List - In a recent blog post, [Benjamin Breen] makes an interesting case that 2023 might ... - https://hackaday.com/2023/08/11/a-little-bit-of-science-history-repeating-itself-boyles-list/ #robertboyle #science #rants

#TIL (via #RiversOfLondon by Ben Aaronovitch) that #RobertBoyle wrote the earliest known report of the #bloodhound 's ability to track people (here: https://books.google.ie/books?id=ktYTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA183 , he also discussed the scenting ability of other breeds, including Irish #dogs hunting wolves)

#IrishPhilosophy #NaturalHistory

25 Jan: #RobertBoyle was born #OTD 1627, the seventh son and fourteenth child of the Great Earl of Cork, Richard Boyle and his wife Catherine Fenton.

Robert Boyle is famous as the Father of Chemistry and the discoverer of Boyles Law, but he was also an important figure in the creation of the discipline of #science #PhilosophyOfScience

We have a depiction of him as a child (about 5) from his father's massive family monument in St Patrick's Cathedral, #Dublin.

Images: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Boyle_monument_in_St._Patrick%27s_Cathedral,_Dublin

(Don't louse this up...)🪳

O wad some Pow'r
the giftie gie us
To see oursels
as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a
blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:
What airs in dress
an' gait wad lea'e us,
An' ev'n devotion!
#Burns 🍻
#RobertBoyle🥳
Joseph-Louis #Lagrange🥂
#pop #music #poetry #STEM

In 1661, Robert Boyle published the principles on which chemistry would be distinguished from alchemy. #Science #History #Poetry #Chemistry #RobertBoyle (https://sharpgiving.com/thebookofscience/items/p1661.html)

Now a couple of less well known things about #RobertBoyle. He was intensely religious and among his religious writings was a tale, "Love and Religion Demonstrated in the Martyrdom of Theodora, and of Didymus".

Handel made it into an opera, "Theodora". Listen here: https://youtu.be/pe2AIay_Yy8

Link to the digitised book: https://books.google.ie/books?id=WJU0AAAAMAAJ

And for something lighter, here's #JonathanSwift 's #broomtastic satire of Boyle's "Occasional Reflections" https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/a-meditation-upon-a-broomstick-1711

31 Dec: #RobertBoyle died in the early hours of 31st December 1691 (often given as 30th Dec).

Chemist (encouraged by his sister #LadyRanelagh), famous for Boyle's Law (volume of a gas decreases with increasing pressure & vice versa).

A key figure in the development of the #NewPhilosophy (#science), making experiment central and espousing a mechanistic theory of matter.

#SEP: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/boyle/

#DIB bio: https://www.dib.ie/biography/boyle-robert-a0858

Omg: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Shannon_Portrait_of_the_Hon_Robert_Boyle.jpg

#IrishPhilosophyOTD

31 Dec: #RobertBoyle died in the early hours of 31st December 1691 (often given as 30th Dec).

Chemist (encouraged by his sister #LadyRanelagh), famous for Boyle's Law (volume of a gas decreases with increasing pressure & vice versa).

A key figure in the development of the #NewPhilosophy (#science), making experiment central and espousing a mechanistic theory of matter.

#SEP: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/boyle/

#DIB bio: https://www.dib.ie/biography/boyle-robert-a0858

Omg: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Shannon_Portrait_of_the_Hon_Robert_Boyle.jpg

#IrishPhilosophyOTD

31 Dec: #RobertBoyle died in the early hours of 31st December 1691 (often given as 30th Dec).

Chemist (encouraged by his sister #LadyRanelagh), famous for Boyle's Law (volume of a gas decreases with increasing pressure & vice versa).

A key figure in the development of the #NewPhilosophy (#science), making experiment central and espousing a mechanistic theory of matter.

#SEP: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/boyle/

#DIB bio: https://www.dib.ie/biography/boyle-robert-a0858

Omg: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Shannon_Portrait_of_the_Hon_Robert_Boyle.jpg

#IrishPhilosophyOTD

31 Dec: #RobertBoyle died in the early hours of 31st December 1691 (often given as 30th Dec).

Chemist (encouraged by his sister #LadyRanelagh), famous for Boyle's Law (volume of a gas decreases with increasing pressure & vice versa).

A key figure in the development of the #NewPhilosophy (#science), making experiment central and espousing a mechanistic theory of matter.

#SEP: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/boyle/

#DIB bio: https://www.dib.ie/biography/boyle-robert-a0858

Omg: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Shannon_Portrait_of_the_Hon_Robert_Boyle.jpg

#IrishPhilosophyOTD

31 Dec: #RobertBoyle died in the early hours of 31st December 1691 (often given as 30th Dec).

Chemist (encouraged by his sister #LadyRanelagh), famous for Boyle's Law (volume of a gas decreases with increasing pressure & vice versa).

A key figure in the development of the #NewPhilosophy (#science), making experiment central and espousing a mechanistic theory of matter.

#SEP: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/boyle/

#DIB bio: https://www.dib.ie/biography/boyle-robert-a0858

Omg: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Shannon_Portrait_of_the_Hon_Robert_Boyle.jpg

#IrishPhilosophyOTD

Anne Finch was born #OTD 1631. She was married to Edward Conway, later (in 1755) the 3rd Viscount Conway (English) and 3rd Viscount Killultagh (Irish).

#AnneConway was never in Ireland but she had Irish connections: she corresponded with philosophers #RobertBoyle and #DorothyMoore (and possibly #LadyRanelagh).

She also knew #JeremyTaylor. Her husband brought Taylor to Portmore Co. Antrim in 1658, probably to protect him.

https://www.irishphilosophy.com/2016/12/14/anne-conway-and-ireland/

#IrishPhilosophyOTD

Among the many notable people #LadyRanelagh hosted in London was the healer Valentine Greatrakes (already known to her brother Roger Boyle, as his neighbour).

Both she and her brother #RobertBoyle were interested in the debate around Greatrakes ability (which failed to relieve the suffering of #MaryConway). A pamphlet on Greatrakes was dedicated to Robert Boyle, arguing the former's ability could be explained both naturally & miraculously. (DiMeo, pp. 146-7)

Greatrakes died #otd 1683.