Boyle

boil, Robert (1626-1691), an English chemist of the phlogistic period. Boyle was a quiet, modest man of good family and liberal education. He was a student at Geneva, and later he resided at Oxford, then in London. He took part in the formation of the Royal Society and held the office of president from 1680 to 1691. Boyle improved the air pump and worked persistently with gases. He enunciated Boyle's Law, that the volume of a gas varies inversely with the pressure. Boyle urged that chemistry should be studied to enlarge the bounds of knowledge, not merely to manufacture precious metals and prepare medicines, See Chemistry