Boyle, Robert death

Despite Robert Boyle s best efforts, the atomic theory did not become widely accepted during his lifetime. Most scientists agree that the birth of modern chemistry had to wait almost another 100 years after Boyle s death, when Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) would publish his great work, Traite Elementaire de Chimie, in 1789. Considered by many to be the founder of modern chemistry, Lavoisier carried out carefully controlled experiments, which provided real evidence for the Law of Conservation of Mass, which we covered in Lesson 1-4. 

Boyle s return was delayed until 1644 by the Irish Rebellion which embarrassed for a time the affairs of the English Lord Treasurer, his father, and determined Robert to go on to their English estate at Stallbridge, where he lived until 1650, applying himself devotedly to his researches into natural philosophy and chemistry. In 1654 he removed to Oxford, where he continued his scientific work and was associated with the framers of the Royal Society in 1662 of which he was President from 1680 until his death in 1691. 

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