Skeptical Chemist: The Story of Robert Boyle

Very good book, for older elementary and secondary students. Encourages them to think and feel with the book. Thanks again. Great book.

This is a delightful short biography of Robert Boyle, known (at least a little bit) by everyone who has studied elementary chemistry or physics as the founder of Boyle's law. Boyle was a member of the British upper class, born in 1627 he lived until 1691. English history students will recognize this as including the years when Oliver Cromwell overthrew King Charles I, when the Black Death was running rampant, when the Great Fire of London destroyed much of the city. This was also a time when experimental science was beginning to replace the earlier Aristotle based ideas of only thinking about a problem was beginning to be replaced by experiment. The whole concept of science was changed by this simple rule. An experiment proved or disproved a theory. The experiment must be repeatable, that is, you or I must be able to do the same esperiment and get the same results over and over. Students will recognize this as the basis for experiments demonstrated by teachers or conducted by the students themselves. By any measure, Boyle was one of the great scientists of all time.