The significance of Robert Boyle (1627-91) as the most influential English scientist in the generation before Newton is now generally acknowledged but the complexity and eclecticism of his ideas has also become increasingly apparent. This volume presents an important group of studies of Boyle by Michael Hunter the leading expert on Boyleâs life and thought. It forms a sequel to two previous books: Hunterâs Robert Boyle: Scrupulosity and Science (2000) and The Boyle Papers: Understanding the Manuscripts of Robert Boyle (2007). Like them it conveniently brings together material otherwise widely scattered in essay volumes and academic journals while nearly a third of the bookâs content is hitherto unpublished. The collection opens with a substantial introduction that places the studies that follow in the context of existing studies of Boyle; appended to it is an annotated edition of Boyleâs telling list of desiderata for science. The next three essays comprise a group of essentially biographical studies exploring various aspects of Boyleâs life and intellectual evolution after which three others provide further evidence of the âconvolutedâ Boyle divulged in Robert Boyle: Scrupulosity and Science. Finally we have two chapters one hitherto published only in French and the other not at all which throw important light on topics that preoccupied Boyle in the last few years of his life - the supernatural and the exotic. Together these essays add greater depth to our understanding of Boyle both as an individual and as a natural philosopher. Language: English