1627-1691

British chemist and natural philosopher who is primarily known for his experiments on the physical properties of gases. In The Sceptical Chymist (1661) Boyle proposed a corpuscular theory of matter. With the assistance of Robert Hooke, Boyle constructed an air pump with which he investigated the physical properties of air. The second edition of his landmark work New Experiments Physio-Mechanicall, Touching the Spring of the Air and its Effects (1662) established the relationship that is now known as Boyle's law: at a constant temperature the volume of a gas is inversely proportional to the pressure.