Boyle, Robert (1627-1691) Certain Physiological Essays and Other Tracts; Written at Distant Times, and on Several Occasions.

Description:

Boyle, Robert (1627-1691) Certain Physiological Essays and Other Tracts; Written at Distant Times, and on Several Occasions. London: Printed for Henry Herringman at the Blew Anchor in the Lower Walk of the New-Exchange, 1669. Second edition, quarto, half-title present, ex libris Robert Eyre, with his bookplate, contemporary full calf, rebacked, small worm trail neatly mended to several text leaves, some minor marginal stains, 8 1/4 x 6 1/4 in.

In this work, Boyle puts forth several essays outlining his corpuscular theory of matter. Discourses on physics, chemistry, meteorology are published here, as he explores a particulate theory of matter, over the previous Aristotelian theories of the past.
"When Boyle spoke and wrote of chemistry as an integral part of natural philosophy, and of chemical experiments as the key to natural philosophy, it might be thought that he was speaking rhetorically, for it is obvious that, except in spirit, the two sciences were generally accounted quite distinct. But there was one area where the two sciences did share an interest, though their approach was entirely different, an area of peculiar interest for the seventeenth-century scientists; this was in the consideration of theories of matter. This was the one area where [...] Boyle succeeded in integrating his physics and his chemistry, and in using chemical experiments to support his physical theory, thereby injecting physical theory into chemistry." (Quoted from Marie Boas's Robert Boyle and Seventeenth-Century Chemistry, Cambridge: University Press, 1958, p. 75.)

A-Z4, Aa-Pp4, B-E4, (final E4 blank & present).
http://estc.bl.uk/R17579
Estimate $3,000-5,000


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