Summary
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of Robert Boyle, a pioneering scientist and a founder member of the Royal Society. Born in Ireland in 1627, Boyle was one of the first natural philosophers to conduct rigorous experiments, laid the foundations of modern chemistry and derived Boyle's Law, describing the physical properties of gases. In addition to his experimental work he left a substantial body of writings about philosophy and religion; his piety was one of the most important factors in his intellectual activities, prompting a celebrated dispute with his contemporary Thomas Hobbes.
With:
Simon Schaffer Professor of the History of Science at the University of Cambridge
Michael Hunter Emeritus Professor of History at Birkbeck College, University of London
Anna Marie Roos Senior Lecturer in the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Lincoln
Producer: Thomas Morris.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
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| 0:43.2 | UK slash radio 4. I hope you enjoy the program. |
| 0:47.0 | Hello on the 7th of January 1692 a vast congregation filled the Church of St. Martin in the field for the funeral |
| 0:55.2 | of one of the country's most celebrated thinkers. |
| 0:57.9 | The Bishop of Salisbury, Gilbert Bernard, preached a sermon in which he prayed the |
| 1:01.5 | deceased for his constant looking into nature and yet more |
| 1:05.3 | constant study of religion and a directing and improving of the one by the other. |
| 1:10.8 | The dead man was Robert Boyle, a founding member of the Royal Society in 1660 and a major |
| 1:16.0 | force in 17th century natural philosophy. His work covered many fields from theology to medicine |
| 1:21.6 | and oceanography, but his best known for his original |
| 1:26.0 | work on the nature of gases and his pioneering chemical experiments which have led some to |
| 1:31.2 | regard him as the first modern scientists. |
| 1:34.0 | We've to discuss the life and work of Robert Boyle R. Simon Schaffer, |
| 1:38.0 | Professor of the History of Science at the University of Cambridge, |
| 1:41.0 | Michael Hunter, a Marietist Professor of History at Birkbeck College University of |
... |
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