Robert Boyle worked with his assistant Robert Hooke to create an air pump for use in creating vacuums. The duo conducted experiments to prove the requirement of air for combustion, transmission of sound and also for human breathing, all apparent and obvious facts today, but under dispute in his time. These were simply theories during Boyle's lifetime. Boyle's law states PV=k, where P stands for pressure and V for volume and k is a constant.
Boyle's experimentation also yielded results that demonstrated that volume and pressure are inversely proportional. That means when the volume of the air decreases, the pressure increases. The law explaining the power of compressed gas appears in all standard chemistry texts, and a potato cannon demonstrates the simple principle. Two pieces of raw potato inserted at either end of a plastic tube and then compressed with a plunger become projectiles when put under pressure. The potato displaces the air and when the pressure increases, it is enough to send the potato flying into the air. Boyle, however, never demonstrated his theory with a potato gun.
William Reville, science faculty member at the University College Cork, credits Robert Boyle with introducing the modern experimental method into scientific exploration. The early guidelines, put in place by Frances Bacon in the early 1600s, promoted the use of inductive science, another term for scientific experiment. Boyle, according to Reville, took Bacon's thesis for experimentation to new heights and standardized the scientific steps in a way to control experiments. When experiments offer controlled steps, the test can be repeated numerous times by the scientists and others to test the veracity of the findings.
Boyle challenged Aristotle's long-held thesis that all matter was made from earth, water, fire or air. Boyle helped dispel another popular theory made by Paracelsus that the main elements featured only salt, mercury and sulfur, the basis of alchemy. Alchemy promised the ability to turn metals into gold and the ability to create a liquid to halt aging. Boyle proposed the concept of an element, or base, that cannot be chemically separated into smaller components of matter. Boyle wrote "The Skeptical Chymist," a scientific paper, in support of the element theory, and this work earned him the modern-day moniker of the "Father of Modern Chemistry." The paper also added prestige to his reputation allowing him to help found the Royal Society, an exclusive fellowship of the world's top practitioners of medicine, engineering and science. The society continues to operate and other modern members elected to the society include Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.