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"Anatomizing the Sceptical Chymist: Robert Boyle and the Secret of his Early Sources on the Growth of Metals," Early Science and Medicine 10 (2005), 453-477.
- Author(s):
- Hiro Hirai (see profile)
- Date:
- 2005
- Subject(s):
- Science, History, Medicine, Philosophy, Intellectual life, Books, Alchemy
- Item Type:
- Article
- Tag(s):
- Robert Boyle, Daniel Sennert, Mineralogy, History of science, History of medicine, History of philosophy, Intellectual history, History of the book
- Permanent URL:
- http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/m8vs-k023
- Abstract:
- Although the "sceptical chymist" Robert Boyle is generally known as an experimental natural philosopher, he was also the child of a culture of bookish erudition. By quoting diverse classical, medieval, Renaissance and contemporary authors, he gave to his readers the impression that he could avail himself of a very wide range of sources. In some cases, however, his apparent erudition was largely dependant on contemporary doxographical commonplace-books. This article unveils one of these books, Johann Gerhard's "Decas quaestionum physico-chymicarum de metallis" (1643), which served Boyle as his secret source for past authoritative views on the issue of the growth of metals. We also discuss the way in which he manipulated the information he found in this book in order to increase the credibility of his own discourse. 1. Introduction 2. “Observations about the Growth of Metals” (1674) 3. Gerhard in Boyl’s "Sceptical Chymist" 4. Johann Gerhard and his chymico-mineralogical work (1643) 5. How did Boyle know Gerhard’s treatise? 6. Conclusions 7. Appendix
- Metadata:
- xml
- Published as:
- Journal article
- Status:
- Published
- Last Updated:
- 4 years ago
- License:
- All Rights Reserved
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hirai_boyle_english_2005.pdf