synonymBoyle(Boyle) Generally refers to Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle, a British physicist and chemist,Chemical ScienceThe founder of modern chemistry, the founder of modern chemistry, and chemical historians all regard 1661 as the first year of modern chemistry, because there was a book on the development of chemistry in that yearsignificant impact This book is written by Boyle《The Sceptical Chymist 》（The Skeptical Chemist）。teacher of the revolutionMarxEngels also agreed with this view. They praised that "Boyle established chemistry as science".Boyle is known as "the star of British science" due to his outstanding achievements in otology.[5-6]
Boyle died on December 30, 1691 at the age of 64.He remained unmarried all his life.[6]
Boyle's law Acid base indicator function Correctly pointed out the purpose of studying chemistry The first scientific element definition Developed the ancient particle theory
Boyle lives inBritish bourgeois revolutionThe era is also the era when modern science began to emerge, which is an era of giants.Boyle was born on January 25, 1627IrelandLismore.[6]Just one year before his birth, he proposed“Knowledge is power”A famous modern scientific thinkerFrancis BaconDeath.greatphysical scientistNewton is 16 years younger than Boyle.Great men in modern scienceItalyOfGalileo, GermanKeplerDescartes of France lived in this period.
Boyle was born into an aristocratic family, and his family was well offscientific researchIt provides better material conditions.In his childhood, he didn't seem particularly smart. He was quiet and talked a littlestutter。No game can fascinate him, but compared with his brothers, he is the best one to learn. He loves reading and often keeps reading.When he was eight years old, his father sent him to the suburbs of LondonEton College In this boarding school for noble children, he studied for three years.Then he was with his brother Frankprivate tutorAccompanied to Switzerland, one of the education centers in Europe at that timeGenevaIt took two years.Here he learned French, practical mathematics, art and other courses. More importantly,SwitzerlandIt is the base of Protestantism in the religious reform movement, reflectingbourgeois ideasHe was nurtured by his Protestant teachings.Since then, Boyle has always been inclined to revolution in thought, although he did not participate in any faction in actual action.[1]
Robert Boyle
Learning Medicine
In 1641, accompanied by a tutor, the Boyle brothers traveled to Europe and arrived in Italy at the end of the year.Even riding on horseback during the journey, Boyle still could not get enough of it.In Italy, he readGalileoA masterpiece of《Dialogue on the two world systems》。This book left a deep impression on him. His masterpiece 20 years later《The Sceptical Chymist 》（The Sceptical Chemist）It was written in imitation of the format of this book.He highly praised Galileo himself.
Boyle's brothers, like their fatherbourgeois revolutionZhongduloyalist 。In 1644, his father died in a battle.The sudden change of family situation and the interruption of economic sources forced Boyle to return to the war stricken Britain.After returning home, he moved to London with his sister, Mrs. Linera, who sympathized with the revolution.In London, he met the science educator Hart Libor, who encouraged him to study medicine and agriculture.
Boyle has 14 at homebrothers and sistersThe youngest one: his mother died when he was three years old.Perhaps it was the lack of mother's care that made him weak and sickly.Once when he was ill, he almost died because the doctor prescribed the wrong medicine. Fortunately, his stomach did not absorb the medicine and vomited it out, so he was not fatal.After this encounter, he was more afraid of doctors than of illness, and would not like to get sickFind a doctor。He began to study medicine by himself, looking for prescriptions and folk prescriptions everywhere to cure his own diseases.Hart Lieber's encouragement determined him to study medicine.At that time, doctors made their own medicines, so research medicine must also develop drugs and do experiments, which made Boyle have a strong interest in chemical experiments.
In the process of studying medicine, he read many works of medical chemists, and he admired those 50 years older than himBelgiumMedical chemistvan Helmont 。No matter day or night, Hermont is fully engaged in chemical experiments and calls himself "the philosopher of fire art".This has become an example for Boyle to learn from.Boyle created a laboratory for himself, covered with coal ash and smoke all day long, and completely immersed in the experiment.In this way, Boyle began to devote himself to science until his death at the end of 1691.
Scientific activities
In 1644, a group of people interested in science, including professors, doctors, theologians, etc., met regularly at a certain place to discuss some natural science issues.They call it“Invisible college”。In 1648, because the war situation in London was unstable, and because the bourgeois revolutionary army captured Oxford, the revolutionary leaderCromwellAppoint Wilkins, a member of Intangible CollegeOxfordDean of Wudang College, invisible collegeSome membersThey also moved to Oxford, and the center of activities moved from London to Oxford.In 1660, as the political situation became stable, the activity center moved back to London.With the expansion of the invisible college team, it was announced at a rally in 1660 that a college to promote physical and mathematical experimental knowledge was officially established.Soon after the kingcharles ii Approved, the college has become one with the purpose of promoting natural science knowledgeRoyal Society。Based on Bacon's ideas, the Royal Society of England attaches great importance to the application of science in technology and technology, and has established a newnatural philosophyAnd become a famous academic group.
In 1646, Boyle took part in the intangible college activities in London.Later, because he was tired of the upper class in the capitalcivil lifeMore importantly, he wanted to concentrate on doing some scientific experiments, so he moved to his father's remote manor, where he studied and conducted scientific experiments for eight years.Although the life of the manor is quietScientific activitiesAfter all, there were a lot of inconveniences, especially he missed his friends from the invisible college.
scientific research
In 1654, he moved to Oxford and lodged with a pharmacist near Oxford University.Later, he set up his own fully equipped laboratory and hired some assistants for himself, some of whom were very talented scholars.for exampleRobert Hooke Later, he became a famous scientist who discovereddeformationThe elastic law of solid in direct proportion to the stress is made into a microscope, and it is observed thatplant cell。These assistants carry out observation and experiment under Boyle's leadership, and help Boyle collect and sort outscientific dataAnd correspondence.In this way, a scientific experiment group was formed around Boyle, and Boyle's laboratory once became the meeting place of the invisible college.Boyle's seriesScientific research achievementsAll of them were obtained here. That epoch-making masterpiece《The Sceptical Chymist 》It was also completed here.According to statistics, in the six years from 1660 to 1666, he wrote 10 books and published 20 papers in the Journal of the Royal Society.In Oxford, Boyle has always been the core figure of Intangible College, and has officially established aExperimental scienceBoyle also advocated the academic group of.However, when the Royal Society of England was founded in London, Boyle was in Oxford, so he did not become the first group of official members of the Society. However, everyone recognized that Boyle was one of the initiators of the Royal Society of England, so he was appointed as one of the first officers.
In 1668, after hearing the news of his brother-in-law's death, Boyle decided to move from Oxford to London and live with his dear sister, Mrs. Leniera.After arriving in London, he built a laboratory in his sister's backyard to continue his research work.aboutsocial affairHe looked very indifferent, even a little disgusted.However, he closely linked his scientific activities with the Royal Society of Great Britain, which earned him a high reputation in the Royal Society of Great Britain and was recognized as a leader in the scientific community.In 1671, he was tiredapoplexyIt took a long time to recover.Therefore, when Boyle was elected as the president of the Royal Society in 1680, he refused to take office because he was weak and sick and hated the swearing in ceremony.[2]
Character achievements
Announce
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Correctly pointed out the purpose of studying chemistry
Some of the chemical knowledge before the 17th centuryalchemyThe content of is aimed at changing metal into gold or silver;Part of it isMedicineThe purpose of "" is to develop medicine, cure the sick and save the people; "";One part is the content of chemical production, which aims to increase the variety of products and improve the quality of products.Chemical research has no independence, mainly because there is no clear and correct research purpose, but the appendages of other parts.On the purpose of studying chemistry, Boyle put forward a view that was fundamentally different from that of former alchemists, pharmacists and chemical producers.He believes that the purpose of studying chemistry is not to be obsessed with alchemy and medicine, but to understand the nature of matter.Therefore, it is necessary to carry out special experiments to collect the observed facts, so that chemistry can be liberated from alchemy and medicine and developed into a science dedicated to exploring the nature.He said, "Chemistry, so far, has only been considered valuable in the manufacture of medicine and industrial products. But what we mean by chemistry is not the servant girl of medicine or pharmacy, nor the servant girl of technology and metallurgy. Chemistry itself, as an independent part of natural science, is an aspect of exploring the mysteries of the universe.Chemistry must be the chemistry that pursues truth for the sake of truth. "BoyleView of natureIt gradually makes people realize that chemistry hasNatural characteristicsA science that needs positive development.As research chemistry has a clear research purpose, category and direction, chemical research has been completely liberated from alchemy, medicine and chemical production, which has greatly promotedChemical ScienceDevelopment of.So Engels spoke highly of "Boyle established chemistry as science." Until now, the purpose of chemical research determined by Boyle is toresearch and development It is still instructive.[5]
The first scientific element definition
Boyle used experiments to prove that gold is not afraid of fire, will not be decomposed by fire, and will not generate salt, sulfur or mercury under the action of fire;But it can be fused with other metals to form alloys, and can also be dissolved inAqua regiaIn addition, the obtained product can be recovered after proper treatment of gold.In his experiment, he found that sand and soda ash can be mixed together and heated to form transparent glass;The generated glass can no longer be decomposed into soil, water and other things.Cooking soda ash and oil will turn into soap, but heating soap will produce a residue completely different from soda ash and oil.SqueezingGrapeThe fruit juice obtained can be converted into alcohol after fermentation, and neither fruit juice nor alcohol will become salt or sulfur.Boyle also pointed out that many chemical changes can show that the same substance can be transformed into other things after different treatments.This shows that the composition and properties of the material are complex, that is, it is notAristotleThe four elements in question are not the three elements in medicine.He also studied metallurgy and metalsprocessing industryThe ash obtained after metal calcination is heavier than the metal, which is by no means the element left after metal decomposition, but the material obtained is more complex than the metal itself.Boyle gave a more scientific definition of element after many facts' argument: "I mean the element should be some primitive and simple substance or completely pure substance which is different from any other substance","There are certain definite, real and perceptible objects. They should not be broken down into simpler objects with the same chemical method." This is the first scientific definition of element in the world.Because Boyle gavechemical elementThe scientific definition is put forward, which points out the direction for human beings to study the composition of matter.Although Boyle put forward the scientific concept of element, due to the limitations of the times, he did not clearly point out that those substances were real elements, and still regarded fire, water, gas, etc. as elements.[5]
Developed the ancient particle theory
ancient GreekMaterialismphilosopherDemocritusthinkmaterialIt is composed of particles.By the 17th century, this idea had revived and developed. Newton, Hooke and Boyle were all representatives of adhering to the theory of particles.As for the refraction of light through a prism, they all use particles as an explanation, but particles are just a kind of supposition. In fact, no one has seen them.To explain chemistry, chemistsReaction processAnd also resorted to the movement and change of particles.Although Boyle believed in the particle theory, there were problems in applying it to chemistry.The nature of chemical substances is diverse, and the reaction process is complex, but it is difficult to explain with particles and their movement.He said, "What I suggested about the special originCorpuscular theoryThe major difficulty lies inNatural objectsIt is actually seen that such a wide range of characteristics can be derived from such few two factors, and it is as simple as matter andDisplacement movementThis is unbelievable. "According to the phenomenon that salt can be soluble in water but not in oil or mercury, but gold can be soluble in mercury but not in water and oil, and sulfur can be soluble in oil but not in water or mercury, he thought that something else should be added to the particle theory to supplement its content.He imagined that the basic particles of matter have different shapes and sizes, and move in different ways, or are fixed to each other in different orders and arrangements, andPinholeThere are someEffluentOr divergence.Like letters, they can be combined in different ways, and each combination represents a chemical substance.This is the so-called "variation principle in objects" he added to the particle theory.Boyle's principle of variation enriched the content of particle theory since ancient Greece and developed the philosopher's particle theory.[5]
Like many scientists at that time, Boyle first studied air.By controlling the airphysical propertyHe realized that the suction produced by vacuum is the pressure of air.He did a series of experiments to investigate the relationship between air pressure and volume, and deduced the mathematical relationship between air pressure and its volume.In his book New Experiments on Aeroelasticity and Its Physical Mechanics, he clearly stated that "the pressure of air is inversely proportional to its volume".Louis de Broglie MarlottIn the following 15 years, this discovery was also made independently based on experiments.So later generations called the rule that the volume of gas changes with pressureBoyle Mallett's law。
French scientists have created abrassThe cylinder, with a piston in the middle, is installed tightly.Several people pressed the piston hard to compress the air in the cylinder.Then they let go of the piston and it bounced back, but not all.No matter how often they do the experiment, the piston will not spring back completely.Through this experiment, French scientists claimed that the air has no elasticity at all, and after compression, the air will remain slightly compressed.
Boyle claimed that the experiment of French scientists could not explain anything.He pointed out that the reason why the piston could not fully spring back was that the piston they used was too tight.Someone countered that if the piston was slightly loose, air would leak around, affecting the experiment.Boyle promised to make an excellent piston with moderate tightness, proving that the above experiment was wrong.Two weeks later, Robert Boyle held a "U"glass tubeStand in front of all members.This "U" shaped glass tube is not symmetrical. One is thin and long, more than 3 feet higher. The other is short and thick. The short one is sealed at the top, and the long one is open at the top.Boyle poured the mercury into the glass tube. The mercury covered the bottom of the U-shaped glass tube, and the two sides rose slightly.In closedShort pipeMercury blocks a small stream of air.Boyle explained that the piston is any device that compresses air,MercuryIt can also be regarded as "piston".As expected by the French experiment, Boyle's practice will not affect the experimental results because of friction.Boyle recorded the weight of mercury and engraved it at the junction of mercury and airA line。He dropped mercury into the long glass tube and filled it all the time.At this time, the mercury rises to half the height in the short glass tube.Under the pressure of mercury, the volume of blocked air becomes less than half of the original.On the short glass tube, Boyle carved the secondLine, mark the new height of mercury inside and the compressed volume of blocked air.Then, through the valve at the bottom of the "U" shaped glass tube, he discharged the mercury until the weight of the glass piston and mercury was exactly equal to the weight at the beginning of the experiment.The mercury column returns to the height at which it started the experiment, and the blocked air returns to its original position.The air is really elastic. French scientists are wrong in their experiments, and Boyle is right.
Boyle continued his experiment with a U-shaped glass tube and found many things worth noting.When he applied double pressure to the blocked air, the volume of air would be halved;When three times of pressure is applied, the volume will become 1/3 of the original.When compressed, the change of air volume is always proportional to the change of pressure.He created aSimple mathematicsequationTo express this proportional relationship, which we now call“Boyle's law”。In terms of understanding the atmosphere and using it to serve mankind, this law is extremely important.
Boyle's law(Boyle's law, or Mariotte's Law),ideal gasThe volume of is inversely proportional to the pressure of the gas.It was put forward by British chemist Boyle in 1662 according to the experimental results: "The pressure of a quantitative gas in a closed container is inversely proportional to its volume at a constant temperature." It is called Boyle's law.This isHuman historyupperThe first discovered "law".
Formula:V=k/P
VIs the volume of the gas,PPressure,kOne constant quantity
This formula can be further deduced. The product of the volume of ideal gas and the pressure becomes a certain constant, namely:
PV=k
If the temperature is the same, the gas relationship between A and B can be expressed as:
PAVA=PBVB
Traditionally, this formula will be written as:
ptwo=poneVone/Vtwo
Boyle's law, the theory created by Boyle, is the first quantitative formula to describe the movement of gasQuantitative researchandchemical analysisLaid the foundation.This law is the basis of learning chemistry, and students should learn it at the beginning of learning chemistry.
Establish Chemistry as Science
In the chemical experiment, Boyle read many predecessors' works and learned some scientific research achievements at that time.This not only broadened his horizon and enriched his thoughts, but also provided guidance for the arrangement of his entire experiment.German industrial chemist at that timeGrauberI have been engaged in chemical experiments for most of my lifemetal smelting More research has been done on the preparation of acid, alkali and salt, which has made great contributions to the revitalization of German industry. Grauber's deeds and his work "The New Philosophical Furnace" on chemical experiments have given Boyle an important enlightenment, making him realize that chemistryindustrial production Chemistry should not be limited to manufacturing medicine, but a science that plays an important role in the whole industry and science.For this reason, he thought it was necessary to re understand chemistry. What is chemistry?
Robert Boyle
According to his own practice and research on numerous materials, Boyle advocated that the purpose of chemical research was to understand the nature of objects, so special experiments were needed to collect the observed facts.In this way, chemistry must be freed from subordinationalchemyOr the status of medicine has developed into an independent science dedicated to exploring the nature.This is Boyle《The Sceptical Chymist 》The first point described in.In order to attract people's attention, he further emphasized in the book that "chemistry has so far only been considered valuable in manufacturing medicine and industrial products.However, the chemistry we have learned is by no means the servant girl of medicine or pharmacy, nor should we be willing to be the servant of technology and metallurgy. Chemistry itself, as a part of natural science, is an aspect of exploring the mysteries of the universe.Chemistry must be the chemistry that pursues truth for the sake of truth ".
In order to determine scientific chemistry, Boyle considered that the first thing to do is to solve one of the most basic concepts in chemistry: element.The concept of element was first proposed by a famous ancient GreekidealismphilosopherPlatoHe used elements to express the four basic elements that he thought were the source of all things at that time: fire, water, air and earth.This theory was regarded as truth for 2000 years.Later, the three element theory of sulfur, mercury and salt proposed by medical chemists was also popular.Through a series of experiments, Boyle doubted these traditional views of elements.He pointed out that these traditional elements are not necessarily real elements.The solid is composed of many substances. For example, gold does not contain these "elements", nor can it be decomposed into sulfur, mercury, salt and other elements.On the contrary, the salt in these elements can be decomposed.So, what are elements?Boyle believed that only those that could not be chemically decomposedSimple substanceIs the element.For example, although gold can be made into alloy with other metals, or dissolved in aqua regia for concealment, it can still be restored to its original shape and get gold again.So is mercury.
As for the number of elements in nature, Boyle believed that elements as the source of all things would not beAristotleThe "four kinds" of Chinese medicine are not the three that medical chemists say, but there must be many kinds.Boyle's concept of element is essentially similar to the concept of simple substance, and the definition of element should be "having the sameNuclear charge numberThe general name of the same kind of atoms of ".NowScientific knowledgeAfter Boyle, after more than three hundred years of development, it was not clear until the beginning of the 20th century.Boyle was able to criticizeFour element theoryandThree elements theoryIt is not easy to put forward the scientific concept of element, which is a great breakthrough in understanding and makes chemistry clear its research object for the first time.In the book "Sceptical Chemists", Boyle also emphasized that experimental methods and observation of nature areScientific thinkingThe scientific approach to the development of chemistry is put forward.Boyle deeply comprehended Bacon's thought of attaching importance to scientific experiments, and he repeatedly stressed that "chemistry, in order to complete its glorious and solemn mission, must abandon the ancient traditionalspeculative method Like physics, it is based on rigorous experiments. "Boyle did it by himself.Boyle brought these new ideas into chemistry, solved a series of problems faced by chemistry in theory at that time, and paved the way for the healthy development of chemistry.If you putGalileo"Dialogue on Two World Systems"Classical physicsBoyle's Skeptical Chemist can be regarded as the beginning of modern chemistry.[3]
Boyle's air pump[4]
Among Boyle's numerous scientific research achievements, there are several chemical achievements that cannot be erased.Boyle often said, "If you want to do a good experiment, you must be sensitive to observation." These achievements are the results of keen observation in experiments.
Acid-base indicator
After Boyle's girlfriend died, he always took her favoritevioletFlowers are around.In a tense experiment, violets in the laboratory were splashedConcentrated hydrochloric acidThe flower loving Boyle quickly rinsed the smoking violet with water and inserted it in the vase.After a while, Boyle found that the purple violet became red.This strange phenomenon prompted him to carry out many experiments on the interaction of flowers and trees with acids and bases.From this, he found that most flowers and plants can change color under the action of acid or alkali, among which litmusLichensThe most obvious purple extract is the purple extract in the. It turns red when it meets acid and blue when it meets alkali.Taking advantage of this feature, Boyle usedLitmusSoak the paper in the soaking solution and then dry it, which makes the acid and alkali test paper commonly used in the experiment——Litmus paper。
Also in this kind of experiment, Boyle found that the water extract of Chinese nutgall andferric saltTogether, a black solution without precipitation will be generated.This black solution has not changed color for a long time, so he invented a method to make black ink, which has been used for almost a century.
In 1663, Boyle put the metal mercury in an airtight container for calcination. After cooling, the lid was opened when weighing, which led to air entering. The final conclusion was that the materialTotal massAdded, andLaw of conservation of massjust miss the person or opportunity.
Study on phosphorus
Boyle was makingphosphorusElements and research phosphorusPhosphideHe also made achievements. According to the view that "an important component of phosphorus is something on people", he worked hard and finally extracted phosphorus from animal urine.After further research, he pointed out that phosphorus only glows in the presence of air;Phosphorus combustion in airWhite smokeThe white smoke reacts with water quickly, and the solution formed is acidic, which isphosphoric acidHeating phosphorus with strong alkali will give some gas（phosphine）This gas will burn when it contacts with air and form white smoke.This was the earliest introduction to the nature of phosphorus at that time.
Boyle made such great achievements, just as he said a maxim: "The reason why people can work in the world is to work hard in experiments."
physics
Boyle also made many contributions to other aspects of physics.He was the first to study the elasticity of solids, in the study of solid expansion of pendulum length changes.It was found that water expands when it freezes.He argues that heat is the movement of molecules.He supports the atomistic hypothesis that all objects are composed of smaller, identical particles.In 1663, he first proposed that colored light is a variety of white light, expressed the idea of the complexity of white light, and pointed out that the color of an object is not an intrinsic attribute of the object itself, but caused by the variation of light on the irradiated surface.In 1663, he also recorded for the first time the colored film stripes produced in soap bubbles and glass balls.He observed the phenomenon of electrostatic induction and pointed out that the chemiluminescence phenomenon was cold light.During his experiments, he developed a barometer, which was named "barometer" from 1662 to 1663.Boyle attached great importance to and emphasized the importance of experiments.He has been engaged in experiments in a wide range of fields, including heat, acoustics, electricity, optics, hydrostatics, chemistry, medicine, biology and physiology, which has a positive impact on the development of experimental physics in the future.[6]
Physiology
In physiology, Boyle studied the effect of air on living things and found that the color of blood in the lungs was related to the intake of air. In 1663, he also found capillaries.[6]
Boyle's works
Boyle commemorative stamps[7]
《The Sceptical Chymist 》(1661) "The story of chemists", "Natural Science Investigation of Mineral Springs", "New Experiments on Air Elasticity and Its Physical Mechanics", "New Experiments on the Relationship between Flame and Air", "The Origin of Form and Property" (1666)AtomismKey points of philosophy)
