Scientist Remembered throughout History - Part II
Robert Boyle
Have you ever wondered how spray paint works or how tires are inflated? The answer lies with Boyle's Law. Boyle's Law states 
that the pressure and volume of a gas are inversely proportional if the temperature is kept constant. With this knowledge, from the earlier example, spray paint can be used since the volume is decreased therefore increasing the pressure and expelling the paint.
Now you might be wondering how this relates to Ireland and Irish history. The answer lies with who Boyle's Law is named after. Its
name comes from the Irish scientist Robert Boyle.
Robert Boyle was born in Linsmore in County Waterford, Ireland on January 25th in 1627. His father was the Earl of Cork and he was the second youngest out of 15 children. Due to his fathers position, he was able to study at Eton College until 1639 when he started a European tour. Most notably he was able to study in Florence where he was greatly influenced by the ideas of Galileo influencing the way Boyle looked at the world. Boyle, like Galileo, adopted the method of studying the world through the approach of mathematics and mechanics.
When Boyle eventually got back to England in 1644 his father had passed. Besides that, England was currently going through a power struggle between King Charles and the parliament. While Boyle tried not to pick sides, it was hard since the views of his father and those of one of his sisters conflicted. However, after Ireland was defeated by Cromwell in 1652 Boyle benefited a lot. Since Cromwell apportioned land to the English, Boyle grew very wealthy, which allowed him to continue to devote himself to science, without ever having to care about money.
Since his finances were taken care of it allowed him to discover his law as well as make other contributions to science. He participated in and was one of the founding members of the "Invisible College", or as it is better known as today, The Royal Society, where many of his findings were published. Besides discovering what is known as Boyle's Law, he also made a significant finding in regards to the hydrostatic paradox, which is that the pressure at a certain horizontal level in the fluid is proportional to the vertical distance to the surface of the fluid. He was the first person to extend mathematics to chemistry and argued all science was the application of math. He also further argued against Aristotle's view that the world was made up of 5 elements in favor of the world being made up of a variety of configurations of primary particles.
Due to his contributions to science, Boyle was even offered the position of president of the Royal Society, however he declined due to religious reasons. He eventually died on December 30th, 1691 in London England. His name continues to live on in his law with Boyle's law being known, or at least should be known, by all in chemistry.
Read about more Irish scientists, including Kathleen Longsdale, William Thomson, and Francis Beaufort.
Author: Annella Bellot, North Central College student