Robert Boyle Quotes
In the Bible the ignorant may learn all requisite knowledge, and the most knowing may learn to discern their ignorance.
Boyle, Robert. Some Considerations Touching the Style of the Holy Scriptures. Henry Herringman, 1661, p. 43.
This seemingly abstruse philosophical statement actually found its way into one of the major political debates of the 21st Century when the Secretary of Defense was defending the management of the Iraq War and the interpretation of intelligence. See {586062}.
The papyrus appears to be an instruction booklet for government officials. The Egyptians thought that thinking and the intellect is done by the heart. In this context we would say, “Don’t let your head get big ….”
Robert Boyle FRS was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of modern chemistry, and one of the pioneers of modern experimental scientific method. He is best known for Boyle's law, which describes the inversely proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas, if the temperature is kept constant within a closed system. Among his works, The Sceptical Chymist is seen as a cornerstone book in the field of chemistry. He was a devout and pious Anglican and is noted for his writings in theology.
