Robert Boyle (1627 - 1691), considered by many to be the Father of Chemistry, was born on this day in Lismore Castle in Waterford. He was the 4th son of the enormously wealthy Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, and Catherine Fenton
Lismore Castle
For those experiencing a throwback moment to school chemistry, Robert Boyle was the author of the eponymous law, which described the inverse relationship between a gas' pressure and the volume it occupies.
Boyle was educated in England and lived out most of his life in Britain pursuing his intellectual passions. His foray into science began with the 1649 creation of a labratory on his estate in Stalbridge located in Dorset. He was free to pursue a career in experimentation on the back of wealth generated from his Irish land holdings. His relationship with the country of his birth was tenuous and he did not visit the island after 1654.
In the mid 1650s he moved to Oxford where he joined a group of natural philosphers, a precursor description for scientists. There he was exposed to a broad array of ideas and began to write frequently on matters scientific.
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In 1661, Boyle published The Sceptical Chymist; this publication proposed a new notion of elements rather than the four proposed by Aristotle: earth, air, fire, and water. These ideas established Boyle as the "Father of Chemistry" and presaged the Periodic Table, which is fundamental to education in Chemistry.
The Skeptical Chymist - published 1661
In 1668, Boyle moved to London and took up residence in the household of his sister, Katherine Jones, Lady Ranelagh. In the capital, his work was feted by the Royal Society which had been established in the city just eight years prior to his relocation. Boyle would remain in London, living with his sister for the remainder of his life and passed on the 30th of December, 1691 just eight days after his much loved sister.
You can read more about Robert Boyle and his approach to science at the Dictionary of Irish Biography: Boyle bio
