Occasional Reflections Upon Several Svbjects…
Robert Boyle (1627-1691)
London: Printed by W. Wilson for H. Herrington, 1665
First edition
PN6330 B65 1665

Occasional reflections was ridiculed by Jonathan Swift in A meditation upon a Broom-Stick and by Samuel Butler in An occasional reflection on Dr. Charleton’s Feeling a Dog’s Pulse at Gresham College. Robert Boyle, a founder of the Royal Society of London, identified “elements” and is considered the father of chemistry. He was interested in going beyond mere discourse about nature. Science could and would raise the levels of material existence. Let them laugh.