Science and Philosophy in Stuart England

  Robert Boyle      Robert Boyle was a known natural philosopher during the 1600s. He was born in 1627 and died in 1691. He is recognized for his involvement with chemistry and is considered a “father of chemistry.” Boyle was responsible for his contribution to both the formation of the  Experimental Philosophy Club and the Royal Society of London. Boyle worked alongside Robert Hooke to create the air pump to study pneumatics; leading to the discovery of air pressure and the vacuum. In 1662, Boyle discovered a relationship between the pressure of a gas and its volume at a given temperature. It was also discovered by Edme Mariotte, a french physicist, and is known as Boyle’s law , the Boyle-Mariotte law , and the Mariotte law .  Boyle’s law was given the formula PV = k , where P is the pressure of a gas, V is the volume of its container, and k is a constant, such as the temperature. The law describes how the pressure of a gas at a constant temperature inc...

  Robert Hooke Robert Hooke was one of the most important natural philosophers of the 1600s. He as born in 1635 and died in 1703, but in this time he made many contributions to various different fields of science. He was not a founding member of the Royal Society, but he was admitted to join only two years after the society was created, in 1662. He worked under Robert Boyle, and together from 1655 to 1659, they created the Boylean Air Pump, which led to major advancements in the understanding of physics and chemistry. Observations from the pump led to Boyle discovering the concept of the vacuum and air pressure, while Hooke would go on to develop a theory on elasticity, which explains how the stretching of a material is “proportional to the force applied to it”. This was the groundwork for further studies on stress and strain, and helped develop a further understanding for “elastic materials”.  Hooke was also interested in the field of astronomy, where he made observations on...

  The Stuart Era is an iconic time period for the growth in Science and Philosophy. Coat of Arms of The Royal Society      The creation of The Royal Society laid the groundwork for future generations. Formed on November 28, 1660, as a collective unit for shared scientific knowledge by a group of natural philosophers, the group has become the oldest national organization for promoting scientific research in Britain. While the society was officially formed in 1660, it had existed in spirit for decades in the form of regular meetings between members of the ‘scientific’ community. Members would meet and discuss their own discoveries and experimental findings, and the discoveries of other notable natural philosophers of the time, such as Francis Bacon .  Founding members included:           Christopher Wren           Robert Boyle       ...