Robert Boyle Reconsidered [Paperback]

This book presents a new view of Robert Boyle (162791), the leading British scientist in the generation before Newton.This book presents a new view of Robert Boyle (162791), the leading British scientist in the generation before Newton, bringing out the subtlety of his ideas and the complexity of his relationship with his context.This book presents a new view of Robert Boyle (162791), the leading British scientist in the generation before Newton, bringing out the subtlety of his ideas and the complexity of his relationship with his context.This book presents a new view of Robert Boyle (1627-91), the leading British scientist in the generation before Newton. It comprises a series of essays by scholars from Europe and North America that scrutinize Boyle's writing on science, philosophy and theology, bringing out the subtlety and complexity of his ideas. Particular attention is given to Boyle's interest in alchemy and to other facets of his ideas that might initially seem surprising in a leading advocate of the mechanical philosophy. Many of the essays use material from among Boyle's extensive manuscripts, which have recently been catalogued for the first time. The introduction surveys the state of Boyle studies and deploys the findings of the essays to offer a reevaluation of Boyle. The book also includes a complete bibliography of writings on Boyle since 1940.List of abbreviations; Preface; 1. Introduction Michael Hunter; 2. Virtue, providence and political neutralism: Boyle and interregnum politics Malcolm Oster; 3. Science writing and writing science: Boyle and rhetorical theory John T. Harwood; 4. Learning from experience: Boyle's construction of an experimental philosophy Rose-Mary Sargent; 5. Carneades and the chemists: a study of The Sceptical Chymist and its impact on seventeenth-century chemistry Antonio Clericuzio; 6. Boyle's alchemical pursuits Lawrence M. Principe; 7. Boyle's debt to corpuscular alchemy William R. Newman; 8. Boyle and cosmical qualitiels·