an Anglo-Irish scientist, was a founder of modern chemistry and founding member of the Royal Society of London. Boyle conducted fundamental experiments on gases. He also attacked anciently held scientific theories, including Aristotle's notion that the universe is made up of the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Instead, Boyle proposed that all matter is composed of primary particles (which he called "corpuscles") that combine in different ways and pro-portions to produce different substances. Boyle's "corpuscular" theory laid the groundwork for development of a modern atomic theory in the nineteenth century. Boyle demonstrated through experiments that air is necessary for fire, breathing, and sound. Experimentation led him to conclude a basic property of gases, which came to be known as Boyle's law: the volume of a gas at a constant temperature varies inversely to the pressure applied to the gas. Boyle also proposed a method to distinguish acids from alkalines. Although born in Ireland, Boyle was a Protestant and lived mostly in England as an adult. He displayed considerable interest in religion, especially in later life, and wrote a theological work, The Chrisfldn ½rtuoso, in 1690. Boyle also published numerous works on his experiments, including a treatise on gases in 1660 and a work presenting his theory of matter in 1661.
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