Complete Record - Heirs of Hippocrates No. 564

ROBERT BOYLE (1627-1691) Certain physiological essays. Printed for Henry Herringman 1661 [4] 105 [9] 107-249 pp. 19.1 cm.

Physicist, physiologist, chemist, and philosopher, Boyle was one of the great scientists and intellects of the seventeenth century. In Boyle's bibliography, John Fulton lists more than three hundred items, including contributions in chemistry, physics, medicine, philosophy, and theology. Although he was not formally trained as a physician, Boyle was deeply interested in the medical sciences and was made a "Doctor of Physick" at Oxford in 1665. Boyle was also a leader in the movement to separate chemistry from alchemy and was among the first to define a chemical element. His interests were wide-ranging and included studies on the properties of acids and bases, hydrostatics, respiration, combustion, magnetism, electricity, and the chemical nature of the blood. In this first edition of his Essays, Boyle presents a summary of his views on physical laws and their relation to human physiology. It is here that he gives the first statement of his "corpuscular hypothesis," or mechanical theory of matter.

Cited references: Cushing B550; Osler 939 (1669 ed.); Waller 10754; Wellcome II, p. 221 (1669 ed.)

Gift of John Martin, M.D.