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As they are wont to be Propos'd and Defended by the Generality of Alchymists. Whereunto is promis'd Part of another Discourse relating to the same Subject. ... Read more

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The Aspiring Adept presents a provocative new view of Robert Boyle (1627-1691), one of the leading figures of the Scientific Revolution, by revealing for the first time his avid and lifelong pursuit of alchemy. Boyle has traditionally been considered, along with Newton, a founder of modern science because of his mechanical philosophy and his experimentation with the air-pump and other early scientific apparatus. However, Lawrence Principe shows that his alchemical quest--hidden first by Boyle's own codes and secrecy, and later suppressed or ignored--positions him more accurately in the intellectual and cultural crossroads of the seventeenth century.

Principe radically reinterprets Boyle's most famous work, The Sceptical Chymist, to show that it criticizes not alchemists, as has been thought, but "unphilosophical" pharmacists and textbook writers. He then shows Boyle's unambiguous enthusiasm for alchemy in his "lost" Dialogue on the Transmutation and Melioration of Metals, now reconstructed from scattered fragments and presented here in full for the first time. Intriguingly, Boyle believed that the goal of his quest, the Philosopher's Stone, could not only transmute base metals into gold, but could also attract angels. Alchemy could thus act both as a source of knowledge and as a defense against the growing tide of atheism that tormented him. In seeking to integrate the seemingly contradictory facets of Boyle's work, Principe also illuminates how alchemy and other "unscientific" pursuits had a far greater impact on early modern science than has previously been thought. ... Read more

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an important contribution
Lawrence Principe is one of the top alchemy scholars today, easy to read and listen to, and actually quite a nice guy. This volume--one of many important texts authored by Principe--represents a key development in the rehabilitation of alchemical studies in the history of science. Anybody who is interested in the academic study of the subject should become familiar with the argument, which is well-organized, easy to understand, and packed with useful information. Sure, it's dense dry and historical, but you won't be bored. The bibliography will lead you to plenty more of the latest scholarship, which is beginning to be well represented at good university libraries.

Speaking of libraries, this would be an important addition to a library collection dealing with the history of chemistry and the historiography of science.

Those who are interested in spiritual alchemy and occultism will also find much of value in this book, especially those thirsty for responsible writing and useful data about the history of occult science, as well as theological dimensions of alchemy.

One of the great minds of that time
This is a well-written book that exposes the inner workings of one of the great scientific minds of that era, a time when Isaac Newton was putting together his laws of gravity and men like Boyle were formulating laws that evolved into our modern day chemistry.It's important to the history of science because this is when much of the superstition and mysticism of the Dark Ages finally fell away and led humanity toward a whole new way of thinking about nature.I liked this book because it shows in some detail how this crossover was accomplished and how difficult it was for thinkers of that time to tear their roots from the past and dream a new world. ... Read more

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Published in 1686, this work attacked prevailing notions of the natural world that depicted "Nature" as a wise, benevolent and purposeful being. It represents one of the subtlest statements concerning the issues raised by the mechanical philosophy that emerged from the Scientific Revolution. This volume presents the first modern edition of the complete text, together with a historical introduction, a chronology of Boyle's life and notes on further reading. ... Read more

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'The availability of a paperback version of Boyle's philosophical writings selected by M. A. Stewart will be a real service to teachers, students, and scholars with seventeenth-century interests. The editor has shown excellent judgment in bringing together many of the most important works and printing them, for the most part, in unabridged form. The texts have been edited responsibly with emphasis on readability...Of special interest in connection with Locke and with the reception of 'Descarte's Corpuscularianism', to students of the Scientific Revolution and of the history of mechanical philosophy, and to those interested in the relations among science, philosophy, and religion. In fact, given the imperfections in and unavailability of the eighteenth-century editions of Boyle's works, this collection will benefit a wide variety of seventeenth-century scholars' - Gary Hatfield, University of Pennsylvania. ... Read more

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"About the excellency and grounds of the mechanical hypothesis"
Arguments for corpuscularism:

"Intelligibleness or clearness of Mechanical principles and explications." Other theories "are either so general and slight, or otherwise so unsatisfactory, that, granting their principles, it is very hard to understand or admit their applications of them to particular phenomena."

Unlimited scope. "When I consider the almost innumerable diversifications that compositions and decompositions may make ofsmall number, not perhaps exceeding twenty, of distinct things, I am apt to look upon those who think the Mechanical principles may serve indeed to give an account of the phenomena of this or that particular part of natural philosophy, as statics, hydrostatics, the theory of planetary motions, &c., but can never be applied to all the phenomena of things corporeal---I am apt, I say, to look upon those, otherwise learned, men as I would upon him that should affirm that, by putting together the letters of the alphabet, one may indeed make up all the words to be found in one book, as in Euclid or Virgil, or in one language, as Latin or English, but that they can by no means suffice to supply words to all the books of a great library, much less to all the languages in the world."

Primacy of its principles. "Of the principles of things corporeal, none can be more few, without being insufficient, or more primary, than matter and motion," "neither of them being resoluble into any things whereof it may be truly, or as much a tolerably, said to be compounded." "So that the fear that so much of a new physical hypothesis as is true will overthrow, or make useless, the Mechanical principles, is as if one should fear that there will be a language proposed that is discordant from, or not reducible to, the letters of the alphabet."

Scalability of nature. "And he that looks upon sand in a good microscope will easily perceive that each minute grain of it has as well its own size and shape as a rock or mountain. And when we let fall a great stone and a pebble from the top of a high building, we find not but that the latter as well as the former moves conformably to the laws of acceleration in heavy descending bodies." "And therefore to say that, though in natural bodies whose bulk is manifest and their structure visible the Mechanical principles may be usefully admitted, they are not to be extended to such portions of matter whose parts and textures are invisible, may perhaps look to some as if a man should allow that the laws of mechanism may take place in a town clock, but cannot in a pocket watch, or ... as if, because the terraqueous globe is a vast magnetical body ... one should affirm that magnetical laws are not to be expected to be of force in a spherical piece of loadstone that is not perhaps in inch long."

Against agents. "They that, to solve the phenomena of nature, have recourse to agents ... tell us nothing that will satisfy the curiosity of an inquisitive person, who seeks not so much to know what is the general agent that produces a phenomenon, as by what means, and after what manner, the phenomenon is produced." It is the latter that matters, as witnessed, for example, by the fact that ground corn is the same "whether the corn be ground by a water-mill or a windmill, or a horse-mill, or a hand-mill; that is, by a mill whose stones are turned by inanimate, by brute, or by rational, agents"; or again by the uselessness to "a sober physician, that comes to visit a patient reported to be bewitched, receives of the strange symptoms he meets with and would have an account of, if he be coldly answered that it is a witch or the devil that produces them." ... Read more

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This stunningmonograph of the paintings of Robert Kipniss is the culmination of nearly forty years work. His paintings, like his print work, are evocative of intense contemplation and rendered with extraordinary techincal facility. While Kipniss' choices of subject matter varies from landscape to sill life to a micture of structures and natural forms they all share a sense of mystery, grace and quiet solitude. Although linked to representational art, Kipniss' paintings produce formal interactions that often verge on the abstract. His work can be found in major collections in the United states and Europe. Also available: Robert Kipniss: IntagliosISBN 9781555952402%37.50 ... Read more

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Enhanced with an informative foreword
Enhanced with an informative foreword by E. John Bullard (Montine McDaniel Freeman Director of the New Orelans Museum of Art which presented a one-person exhibition of Robert Kipniss' work as the museum's inaugural show when it reopened in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina) introducing the American printmaker and painter Robert Kipniss, and with the insightful essay 'Solitude and Silence: The Paintings of Robert Kipniss' by Richard Boyle (Adjunct Professor of Art History at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) providing context for this artist's unique and intensely independent vision, "Robert Kipniss: Paintings 1950-2005" is a companion volume to the early collection of his work "Robert Kipniss: Intaglios 1982-2004" (published by Hudson Hills Press in 2004). This volume of the artist work offers art students the first comprehensive investigation of Kipniss' paintings as a mature artists, along with detailing his methodology, process, inspirations, and impact. In addition to the 177 full color plates themselves, there is the inclusion of "Notes from the Studio" and a listing of 'Selected Publications, Collections & Exhibitions', making this superbly produced volume by the Hudson Hills Press of the art of Robert Kipniss a very strongly recommendation and core addition to personal, professional, and academic library American Art History reference collections. ... Read more

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Super Biography
Very good book, for older elementary and secondary students. Encourages them to think and feel with the book. Thanks again. Great book.

Delightful Short Biography of the Man behind Boyle's Law
This is a delightful short biography of Robert Boyle, known (at least a little bit) by everyone who has studied elementary chemistry or physics as the founder of Boyle's law.

Boyle was a member of the British upper class, born in 1627 he lived until 1691. English history students will recognize this as including the years when Oliver Cromwell overthrew King Charles I, when the Black Death was running rampant, when the Great Fire of London destroyed much of the city.

This was also a time when experimental science was beginning to replace the earlier Aristotle based ideas of only thinking about a problem was beginning to be replaced by experiment. The whole concept of science was changed by this simple rule. An experiment proved or disproved a theory. The experiment must be repeatable, that is, you or I must be able to do the same esperiment and get the same results over and over. Students will recognize this as the basis for experiments demonstrated by teachers or conducted by the students themselves.

By any measure, Boyle was one of the great scientists of all time. ... Read more

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A thorough introduction to a unique and often overlooked method of fly fishing

How to tie and use dapping flies: stoneflies, dragonflies, craneflies, grass shrimp, minnows, Catskill flies, and Irish and Scottish flies

Photos, recipes, and step-by-step instructions for tying the flies

Proclaimed as the easiest way to fly-fish--the wind carries the blowline, which carries the fly to the fish--dapping is all but unknown in North America, yet it is extraordinarily popular in Ireland and Scotland. The dapper uses the wind, even a breeze, to carry the blowline that carries a fly that flies, quivers, and jumps exactly like the living insect. And dapping drives trout, bass, salmon, and other gamefish wild with desire.

In this first and only book published in the United States exclusively on the subject of dapping, Robert Boyle examines this unusual but highly effective technique, giving details on how to rig and fish a dapping rod equipped with the proper reel, backing, blowline, and short leader. He describes the proven flies to use, along with the materials needed and the tying procedures.

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Customer Reviews (6)

Usefull and fun
Robert Boyle has written an entertaining little book to inspire us to
try something outside the conventional approach of presenting our piscatorial offerings. The ability to keep our lines and leaders entirely
out of the water is worth the study of his method alone. There is another,and that would be the chance to fly(as in kite flying)the most aerodynamically challenged renditions of nature ever to leave the bench of an intoxicated fly tier. I for one love the dragonfly family, but have been frustrated with trying to keep my imitations wind resistant enough for casting,and still have them appear to belong to the odonata fraternity. Now I can have my cake and eat it too. I spent a lovely evening landing two Browns, and a Green(as in smallmouth bass)on a modified version of one Mr. Boyles dragonfly creations.
Try dapping. The first time you catch a fish in the air, you and your
quarry will both be hooked. Tom Stratton, New York

A read both enjoyable & informative
Kudos to Boyle for packing into this small tome, years of research, quick humor, waterside tales, and a fresh, inventive approach to both angling and fly tying. Dapping, as Boyle describes it, is not just for trout, but can be employed on any body of water over many species of fish. Boyle should not be an apologist to any of the trout elite for his fondness for this older form of angling; if this book teaches us anything, it is to love the very act of angling, to take pleasure in the wonderful diversity we find in the waters we cherish, and to keep our minds, and tackle boxes open to new, and sometimes old, ideas.

review
Bob Boyle's "Dapping" is a delight.It doesn't matter whether you're a fisherman yourself or not.It's fun to read. And an education.

Delightful
Delightful!
Dapping The Exciting Way of Fishing Flies that Fly, Quiver and Jump by Author Robert H. Boyle is an absolutely delightful must read for any fly-fishing enthusiast.
Advised of the book by a staunch environmentalist friend of mine who had followed the career, campaign and accomplishments of the engaging Mr. Boyle, I found myself lost in a world of purist pursuit of the singularly satisfying task of catching dinner!
Boyle takes the reader through a light, yet, engaging history of the sport of dapping recognizing its near demise and resurrection with purists around the world; a quiet revolution to actually return to sport.
As a marginally adept fisher-person myself, having long ago given up the sport enjoyed with my grandfather in ideal fishing spots throughout the Hudson Valley, I find myself longing to return.
Only a true sportsman could elicit this level of excitement. I'm off to the hardware store to purchase a vise, black thread and some Krazy glue. You should be off to the bookstore to purchase this "keeper" as a gift for any fisherman in your midst!

Interesting subject and a great read
"Dapping" is the most original and interesting book on fly-fishing in many years. Dapping is arguably the purest form of dry-fly fishing, but if you read Boyle's book - and I highly recommend that you do - be prepared to see most of your cherished fly-fishing conventions turned on their heads. You'll be instructed to use a very long rod (15 feet is mid-range), a spinning reel and a "blowline" with a short leader, which swings with the lightest breeze so that your fly "gently alights, sits with feathers and fibers twitching, tantalizingly dances and prances its way across the surface, and if no strike results, takes to their air where it seductively hovers before landing again to start the cycle anew," in the author's words. Boyle treats the reader to an utterly fascinating history of dapping going back to ancient Macedonia, rich with quotes from hundreds of years' worth of angling literature. The unorthodox (to Americans) fly patterns in the book are a refreshing change from the standard litany of patterns found in most fly-fishing how-to books. "Dapping" is a witty, elegant and meticulously researched book, and I believe most fly-fishermen will enjoy it very much. I know I did.

P.S. - Boyle's bio on the Amazon page is far too modest. He is a highly influential environmentalist -- the founder of Riverkeeper, an important conservation organization with a track record of success, and the author of "The Hudson River: A Natural and Unnatural History" and "Acid rain," among many other books. And his writing is exquisite.



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Doubts and Paradoxes, Touching the Spagyrist's Principles Commonly called Hypostatical; As they are wont to be Proposed and Defended by the Generality of Alchymists. Whereunto is promised Part of another Discourse relating to the same Subject. This interesting book purposely played the role of devil's advocate in the alchemical debate. Seemingly antagonistic to alchemy, it provoked the intended opposite effect: it helped to defend alchemy's worth as a sacred science. Extremely scarce. ... Read more

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The Rise of Chemistry From the Ranks of Alchemy
The Christian Chemist, Robert Boyle (1627-1691) was truly a great scientist. He is guilty for verifying and discovering the proportional relationship of Pressure and Volume for gases and also found the inverse relationship of Temperature to both the Pressure and Volume of a gas. He verified one side of the Ideal Gas Law (PV = nRT). This work is the work he is remembered best for. Here he discusses a necessity for uniform language for alchemists, since at the time many procedures had been done, but with some natural philosophers having no clue as to what the compounds and mixtures were because of the poetical nature of alchemical language.

Please note that The "Sceptical Chymist" (1661) is NOT the work where Gas Laws are discussed. His other work with the works of E. H. Amagat The Laws Of Gases: Memoirs By Robert Boyle And E. H. Amagat (1899) would be the book to get to see how he derived PV = k.

Alchemy is notorious for using poetic recipes and a nasty habit of trying to create the Philosopher's Stone. He followed Francis Bacon's method of induction in the "Sceptical Chymist" since he constantly appeals to experimental evidence and systematic procedures to validate claims and numerical models on natural phenomenon. A big portion is in the procedures and results of many chemical experiments. He coined the process of identification of compounds as "analysis" and is given credit by some for the first to use the word "analysis" in any work of natural philosophy (science). Here he does controlled chemical experiments, which is one of the first works to give chemical observations, procedures,and descriptions of his apparatus for experiments for chemical purposes. There is also talk of the Bible and its influence on Boyle's views of nature and how it inspired his empiricism and objective search for truth in the midst of alchemy. He also asserted strongly that general experiments denied the limiting of chemical elements to only the classic four: earth, fire, air, and water. That is, there are more than 4 elements that make up matter. He also defines the term "Element" and views substances as being made of primary particles or bodies (aka what the atomists more than 2000 years ago called "atoms). Truly an awesome short historical work of the man himself and gives a glimpse of the early progression of natural philosophy. His legacy is still felt today in process design and gaseous chemistry and any material "analysis". Truly he was following the nature of truth as propagated by the Christian lawyer and author of the formal "scientific method(s)", Francis Bacon. Read Francis Bacon: The New Organon and Related Writings for further reading in the origins of modern science.

The language of this book is not that bad, and you get used to certain spelling of words since this is simply a copy of an old copy of the "Sceptical Chymist" from 1661. Over all, this is any important work for any Chemist or Chemical Engineer who is interested in the application of the core "Scientific Method(s)" on alchemy and how Chemistry rose from the Father of Modern Chemistry - Robert Boyle. No one should go without reading the works of this scientific giant.

For other historical papers by notable historical chemists please read Elements of Chemistry By Lavoisier and Mendeleev on the Periodic Law: Selected Writings, 1869 - 1905 By Dmitri Mendeleev and The Modern Theory Of Solution: Memoirs By Pfeffer, Van't Hoff Arrhenius And Raoult (1899) with almost complete papers of Raoult, Arrhenius and read Foundations Of The Atomic Theory: Comprising Papers And Extracts By John Dalton, William Hyde Wollaston And Thomas Thomson, 1802-1808 (1911) and Foundations Of The Molecular Theory: Comprising Papers And Extracts ... Read more

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In this study of Robert Boyle's epistemology, Jan W. Wojcik reveals the theological context within which Boyle developed his views on reason's limits.After arguing that a correct interpretation of his views on "things above reason" depends upon reading his works in the context of theological controversies in seventeenth-century England, Professor Wojcik details exactly how Boyle's three specific categories of things that transcended reason--the incomprehensible, the inexplicable, and the unsociable--affected his conception of what a natural philosopher could hope to know.Also detailed is Boyle's belief that God deliberately limited the human intellect in order to reserve a full knowledge of both theology and natural philosophy for the afterlife. ... Read more

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A collection in 14 volumes of all the published works of Robert Boyle (1627-1691), who was one of the most influential scientific and theological thinkers of his time. Discoverer of Boyle's Law, which still pertains in modern science, his writings range around the greatest scientific issues of his day. Works originally in Latin are presented in their contemporary English translations. There is a general introduction with explanatory notes to the texts. A bibliography and general index permits access to all Boyle's work. ... Read more

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This book presents a new view of Robert Boyle (1627-91), the leading British scientist in the generation before Newton. It comprises a series of essays by scholars from Europe and North America that scrutinize Boyle's writing on science, philosophy and theology, bringing out the subtlety and complexity of his ideas.Particular attention is given to Boyle's interest in alchemy and to other facets of his ideas that might initially seem surprising in a leading advocate of the mechanical philosophy. Many of the essays use material from among Boyle's extensive manuscripts, which have recently been catalogued for the first time. The introduction surveys the state of Boyle studies and deploys the findings of the essays to offer a reevaluation of Boyle. The book also includes a complete bibliography of writings on Boyle since 1940. ... Read more

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He became the best known and most respected scientist of his day. He lived a devout Christian life, using his science to glorify God. ... Read more

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robert boyle trailblazer of science(sowers)
An outstand biography of a famous scientist. Entertainingly written, not too wordy.Short enough to interest weak readers.

The Age of Discovery.
This story is one of tragedy, humility and selflessness.I especially enjoyed this time when science was exploding with curiousity and discovery.Many of the physical laws we know today were documented here.

Yea...liked this book much and Robert Boyle. ... Read more

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This book examines the first integrated treatment of the philosophy of Robert Boyle and the central concepts of that philosophy, including the theory of matter, causation and the laws of nature. ... Read more

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delightful
particularly informative about the pre-colonial aspects of the Hudson River area, also the geology of the river itself

Influential milestone in raising awareness of HV ecology.
In the early chapters Boyle paints an idyllic picture of aprimeval forest paradise with sparse native population that livedmainly off the land and needed to engage in limited amount of agriculture.The arrival of the Europeans spelled immediate eruption of violence.Not that there was none among the native tribes.... Boyle continues with a twenty page historical sketch of the HV during the 400 years and the Valley's ecology was affected.After these two chapters he proceeds to describe each stretch of the Hudson starting with the Adirondack region along with the beauty and problems each area.At this point it becomes apparent that Boyle's main interest is fish because of good half of the book is devoted to angling and description of fish.This is somewhat puzzling in this edition in view of the preface that he wrote in 1979, ten years after the first publication of the book that (he) does not "eat any waterfowls taken from the Hudson River south of Hudson Falls because of likely contamination by PCB's or other chemicals." That part is explained in the Epilogue, 1968-1978.The amount of attention devoted to fishing and the warning in the end makes the book seem irrelevant or else a historical curiosity.In addition to the fishing lore which is at times interesting and informative--there are pages devoted to a single species, sturgeon, for example, including a recipe for making caviar, or bass, there is wrangling with industrial polluters, Con Edison, governments, State, Federal, Local who are always in cohoots with those they were to watch.There is the Storm King Mountain fiasco though the first edition of the book came out before that blew over.

This book gives a deep history of the Hudson River struggle.
Boyle's The Hudson River gives the amazing story of the Hudson River.Just about every species of animal life (fish, insects, and birds) from the rivers' origin to its mouth are disgussed.The Storm King plant and ConEdstruggle surfaces.A chapter is devoted to a local fisherman who knowsmore about the river than anyone else. It is too bad that this classic isout of print, for I suggest that any ecologist at heart should own a copy.(My copy was "borrowed" from my teacher, and shall return homecome the end of school.) Even if you do not live in New York State,or have no plans to ever go there, this book is an ecologist's dream.Notto put any other rivers down, but the Hudson River has the most incrediblehistory around. If you can actually find this now-rare book I strongly urgeyou to buy it. ... Read more