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'''Robert Boyle''' (1627 - 1691) was a natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, inventor, and gentleman scientist. He is also noted for his writings in theology and best known for the formulation of ''Boyle's Law''.

[[Image:boyle.jpg|right|thumb|250px|''Robert Boyle'' (1627-1691)]]
==Early Years==

Boyle was born on 27 January 1627, the seventh son of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork by his second wife, Catherine. During his childhood, Robert learned to speak Latin, Greek and French. At the age of seven, following the death of his mother, he was sent to Eton College in England. After spending only a few years at Eton, he received further education in Geneva. In 1644 he returned to England and settled at Stalbridge in Dorset, a manor that was left to him by his father, who had died the previous year. At this time Boyle started his carreer as a writer of moral and literary topics rather than scientific ones. Not before 1949 he devoted himself to experimental science and became a member of the ''"Invisible College"''. Starting in the early 1650s, Boyle began to write treatises on scientific topics and to carry out a series of experiments on the properties of air. At this time, hardly any of his writings were publicised, but from 1659 onwards he began to publish o a regular basis, covering natural philosophy, medicine and religion. 

==Later Years==
In 1668 he moved to London, where he resided at the house of his sister, Lady Ranelagh. Boyle kept on experimenting, pilling information and writing, until he died on 30 December 1691 from paralysis. He was buried in the churchyard of St Martin's in the Fields. In his last will, Boyle endowed a series of Lectures which came to be known as the Boyle Lectures.


==Sources==

* Hunter, Michael. "Robert Boyle (1627-91) - a Brief Introduction." ''Robert Boyle (1627-91)''. 2004. 22.06.2009. <http://www.bbk.ac.uk/boyle/boyle_learn/robert_boyle_introduction.htm>
* "Robert Boyle". Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 17 June 2009, 04:55 CET. 22 June 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Boyle>
* MacIntosh, J.J. "Robert Boyle". ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy''. 2006. 22.06.2009. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/boyle>