Robert Boyle, the great English chemist, is often regarded as the "founder of modern chemistry" because he was a firm believer in experiment rather than theory. Throughout his lifetime, Boyle insisted that chemistry was farm more than a mere subdivision of medical knowledge. Indeed, the results of his brilliant work proved that chemistry was itself a full-fledged science.
Boyle's best-known achievement is the Law that bears his name today-Boyle's Law, which states the relation between the pressure and volume of gases. He was also the first to perform the bell-in-vacuum experiment with an efficient air pump, proving that air is the normal medium by which sound reaches our ears.
Among Boyle's other accomplishments were the perfection of the thermometer into a sealed unit, and the development of the barometer in the form it is used today.
by Harry Sootin