Robert Boyle

Robert Boyle, the seventh son of the Earl of Cork was born in County Waterford. He was sent to Eton when he was eight and he went to Europe to study Galileo's writings. He returned to Ireland in 1644 with an extreme interest in science. He only spent part of his time there and he went to reside in Oxford University in 1655.

During this time, he made many experiments. One of them was making an air pump using a "tightly fitting piston running in a tube. There was a valve at the end of the cylinder, and the pump was connected to a 'receiver', a glass vessel with a tap to seal it off" (BBC - History - Robert Boyle). On of his first experiments was putting a lamb's bladder in the receiver.

Another experiment was to place a flaming candle into a jar. As the air was pumped out of the jar, the flame was extinguished, he thought that something in the air was necessary for burning. He attempted this experiment with a glowing piece of coal. The glow disappeared when the air was pumped out but it returned when air was let in. He also made an experiment that proves that sound travels through the air. He put a watch inside and as air was pumped out, the ticking sound became fainter.

Robert Boyle's most famous achievement was Boyle's Law. The law said that the pressure of a gas increased as the volume of a gas decreased. This could only be explained by saying that all gases were made up of extremely small particles.