Robert Boyle

Timeline

1. 1627–1654Lismore and continental Europe · County WaterfordBorn at Lismore Castle in County Waterford, Ireland, he traveled to continental Europe in his youth, encountering the Galilean tradition and mechanical philosophy, and studied widely in Switzerland, Italy, and France, laying the intellectual foundation for experimental natural philosophy and chemistry.
2. 1654–1668Oxford · OxfordshireSettling in Oxford in 1654, he collaborated with Robert Hooke and others on vacuum pump and gas experiments. In 1662 he published Boyle's law, systematically stating the inverse relationship between gas pressure and volume at constant temperature; he also advanced element theory and chemical analysis, advocating testing hypotheses by experiment.
3. 1660–1691London · LondonIn 1660 he helped found the Royal Society, promoting the institutionalization of experimental philosophy. Moving to London in 1668, he continued writing and corresponding with continental scholars; he published works such as The Sceptical Chymist, advocating reform of chemistry by experimental method, and died in London in 1691.