1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Crazy v Wilson. Robert Boyle came up 4 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: in our recent episode on modern Inventions that are actually 5 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:25,320 Speaker 1: old because I mentioned an old thing and said Robert 6 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: Boyle didn't start messing around with that. For a while. 7 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: That made me want to do an episode on him, 8 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:33,879 Speaker 1: but then I ended up doing the heart lib episode 9 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 1: first because that gives extra context to the kind of 10 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: situation that was going on in England at the time 11 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: regarding science and science clicks. And now here we are, 12 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,959 Speaker 1: at last, are ready for the Robert Boyle of it all. 13 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: Boyle is sometimes called the father of modern chemistry. There 14 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: are other scientists that get called that, though, like Antoine 15 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: Lavoisier that we've talked about before. Boyle is frequently described 16 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: as the first modern chemist, which is closer to accurate. 17 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: But his work encompassed a lot more than that, including 18 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: being a founding member of the Royal Society. He also 19 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: wrote a lot of religious tracts and he was a 20 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: product of his time. So you're ready because that means 21 00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: some of his ideas were just flat out super yucky. 22 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:25,080 Speaker 1: Robert Boyle was born January twenty fifth, sixteen twenty seven, 23 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:29,040 Speaker 1: in County Waterford, Ireland. He was born in the family home, 24 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:33,319 Speaker 1: which was Lismore Castle. His father was Richard Boyle, first 25 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: Earl of Cork, who purchased that home again being a castle, 26 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,320 Speaker 1: from Sir Walter Raleigh in the first years of the 27 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: sixteen hundreds. Richard is credited with repairing, renovating, and revitalizing 28 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: the twelfth century property that had fallen into disrepair. Robert 29 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: was the fourteenth of Richard Boyle's fifteen children, which he 30 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: had over the course of two marriages. Robert's mother was Catherine, 31 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: daughter of Ireland's Secretary of State. When Robert was born, 32 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: his father wrote in his diary quote, my wife, God 33 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: ever be praised, was about three of the clock in 34 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:15,080 Speaker 1: the afternoon of this day, and the sign in Gemini 35 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: Libra safely delivered of her seventh son at Lismore. God 36 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: bless him for his name is Robert Boyle. Robert was 37 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: christened a week later at Lismore's Chapel, and there was 38 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: a huge party to celebrate. Yeah, I didn't include it 39 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,960 Speaker 1: in these notes, but I did read a very kind 40 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: of charming and illustrative note in some of Robert's writing 41 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:42,640 Speaker 1: about his family dynamic and how his brothers were treated 42 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: versus him, because he was the last son, and he 43 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: was saying, you know, even though the oldest son might 44 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:51,520 Speaker 1: inherit all of the property, the youngest son gets all 45 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:53,919 Speaker 1: of the love. And that certainly seemed to play out 46 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: for them. Yeah, that huge party that they had to 47 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: celebrate his christening was one of men large social events 48 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: that happened at the castle when Robert was young. The 49 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:08,919 Speaker 1: Boyle family, due to their status, was constantly busy with guests, 50 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: arranging marriages for their men and children, etc. But Robert, 51 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: who was called Robin by his family, and his siblings 52 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: also got a lot of time outdoors and they ate 53 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: what he described as a quote coarse but cleanly diet. 54 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: The luxuries that they experienced were not a constant, but 55 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:30,520 Speaker 1: they were saved for special occasions, and this kind of 56 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: approach to their upbringing was all intended to make sure 57 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 1: that the children were hearty and resilient. Robert's mother died 58 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: of tuberculosis when he was three or four. Different sources 59 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: report both of those ages, but basically when he was 60 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: still very young. His father, the Earl, was present in 61 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:50,680 Speaker 1: his children's lives, but it seems as though most of 62 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: the time that they had was spent with tutors and 63 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: nannies and other staff. At the age of five, Robert 64 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: was assigned his own personal valet. But though there had 65 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: been a very big focus on this idea of country 66 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:07,720 Speaker 1: living that would ensure that Robert and the other kids 67 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: in the family grew up to be healthy and strong. 68 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:13,320 Speaker 1: As Robert matured into adulthood, he actually had a lot 69 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: of health issues, and he's often described as having been 70 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,920 Speaker 1: pretty frail. Among other things, he developed kidney stones at 71 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,160 Speaker 1: a very young age. Usually that's something that would onset 72 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:24,600 Speaker 1: later in life, but he got them when he was 73 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:29,159 Speaker 1: still a child. He also had very bad vision from 74 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: the time he was quite young, and so a lot 75 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: of time was spent trying to preserve what vision he had. 76 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:38,160 Speaker 1: Robert started attending Eton College at the age of eight, 77 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:41,719 Speaker 1: and he was a good student, so dedicated to learning 78 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 1: that teachers had to stop him from reading so much 79 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:49,039 Speaker 1: in the hopes of not further damaging his eyesight. He 80 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: was at Eton for three years and then was taught 81 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:56,040 Speaker 1: privately at the family's Stawbridge estate in Dorset, England, first 82 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,839 Speaker 1: with the Reverend William Douche and then with a French 83 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:03,279 Speaker 1: tutor named Isaac Marcom. When Robert was twelve, he and 84 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: his older brother Francis, who was sixteen, began a tour 85 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: of Europe that was customary for adolescent boys of wealth. 86 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: This was a multi year affair and the boys were 87 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:19,720 Speaker 1: accompanied by Marcom, so their education continued during their travels. 88 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,040 Speaker 1: They were mostly based in Switzerland. They stayed at a 89 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: home in Geneva, and then they would make trips out 90 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: to other places from there. Robert was abroad for almost 91 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,480 Speaker 1: six years for this tour, but his brother Francis had 92 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:37,039 Speaker 1: to return home earlier in sixteen forty two, as the 93 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: ongoing conflict between Catholics and Protestants escalated in Ireland. Richard 94 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: Boyle was English by birth. This was really an English 95 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:49,600 Speaker 1: family that had moved to Ireland. The family were Protestants 96 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: and by that point Francis would have been nineteen, so 97 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: he would have needed to defend the family's holdings in 98 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: the event of an attack. There's a whole context here 99 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: of like the English colonization of Ireland, yes, which we 100 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: have talked about before. So I was like, I don't 101 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:08,840 Speaker 1: know that we need to retread all that. We don't 102 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:12,719 Speaker 1: need to re explain the whole thing again. My understanding 103 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,240 Speaker 1: too is that even though his brother Francis went back, 104 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: they their home was never attacked, he never actually had 105 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 1: to do any of that defense that they were worried about. 106 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: But in addition to furthering his education, including the acquisition 107 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,320 Speaker 1: of a very high degree of French language proficiency, you'll 108 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 1: read a lot of accounts that basically say that Robert 109 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:34,719 Speaker 1: Boyle was so fluent in French that French people thought 110 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: he was French. There was also a very significant event 111 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: that happened during this time in Boyle's life where he 112 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:44,480 Speaker 1: was taking his years abroad. He wrote about it later 113 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:47,239 Speaker 1: when he was twenty one. At that point he penned 114 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 1: a third person autobiography titled An Account of Filleratus during 115 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:55,240 Speaker 1: his minority. We're going to talk a little bit more 116 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 1: about this third person conceit of this biography on Friday. 117 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,200 Speaker 1: In it, Boyle described a stormy night in Geneva that 118 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:06,239 Speaker 1: happened when he was thirteen and how it changed his life. 119 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: He wrote, quote and Phileridus is his stand in name, 120 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:13,240 Speaker 1: like the name he gives to the character who is 121 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: obviously him quote. But during Philaridus's residence at Geneva, there 122 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: happened to him an accident which he always used to 123 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:25,640 Speaker 1: mention as the considerablest of his whole life. To frame 124 00:07:25,680 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 1: a right apprehension of this, you must understand that though 125 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: his inclinations were ever virtuous, and his life free from 126 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: scandal and inoffensive, yet had the piety he was master 127 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:41,040 Speaker 1: of already so diverted him from aspiring unto more. That Christ, 128 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 1: who long had lain asleep in his conscience, as he 129 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 1: once did in the ship, must now as then be 130 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: waked by a storm. For at a time which, being 131 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 1: the very heat of summer, promised nothing less about the 132 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: dead of night that adds most terror to such accidents, 133 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 1: Philardus was suddenly waked in affright with such loud claps 134 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 1: of thunder, which are oftentimes very terrible in those hot 135 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:08,160 Speaker 1: climbs and seasons, that he thought the earth would owe 136 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:12,000 Speaker 1: an ague to the air. The long continuance of that 137 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: dismal tempest, where the winds were so loud as almost 138 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: drowned the noise of the very thunder, and the shower 139 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,880 Speaker 1: so hideous as almost quenched the lightning ere it could 140 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 1: reach his eyes, confirmed feloratus in his apprehensions of the 141 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: day of judgments being at hand. Whereupon the consideration of 142 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:35,319 Speaker 1: his unpreparedness to welcome it, and the hideousness of being 143 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: surprised by it in an unfit condition, made him resolve 144 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:43,200 Speaker 1: and vow that if his fears were that night disappointed, 145 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 1: all his further additions to his life should be more 146 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 1: religiously and watchfully employed. The morning came, and a serener, 147 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:57,119 Speaker 1: cloudless sky returned when he ratified his determination so solemnly 148 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:02,079 Speaker 1: that from that day he dated his converse renewing. Now 149 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:06,000 Speaker 1: he was past changer the vow he had made, so 150 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: the storm scared him so badly that he pledged to 151 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: become an ardent Christian. A lot of people have moments 152 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 1: like this in their lives. Something happens, you feel like 153 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:20,079 Speaker 1: you're committing yourself to something up for a lot of 154 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:24,360 Speaker 1: get me through this, yeah, whether it's whether it's religion 155 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:26,320 Speaker 1: or something else. Like for a lot of folks, though, 156 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 1: that kind of fades away. But Boyle stuck to that 157 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 1: promise for the rest of his life, while he was 158 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: already interested in science before this event. His newfound religiousness 159 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: shifted his approach to science as it grew up. He 160 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:44,040 Speaker 1: pursued science always as a means to show the marvels 161 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 1: of the natural world as the work of God. One 162 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: of the ideas that Boyle wrote about over the years 163 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 1: was this concept that the universe is a huge machine. 164 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:57,839 Speaker 1: Everything in it functions as a component of it, down 165 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: to minute particles that are different perentiated by shape and motion. 166 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:05,840 Speaker 1: In his religious worldview, this was a mechanism that had 167 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:10,400 Speaker 1: been carefully designed by a higher power. Coming up, we 168 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:13,520 Speaker 1: will talk about Boyle's life after his tour of Europe, 169 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 1: but first we will hear from the sponsors that keep 170 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 1: the show going. At the age of seventeen, Robert Boyle 171 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 1: finished his travels, but he did not return to Ireland. Instead, 172 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: he went to London and he stayed with his sister 173 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: Catherine for four and a half months. From there he 174 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 1: moved on to Dorset, England, where he had a family 175 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 1: estate that was the manner of Stalbridge that he had 176 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: inherited upon his father's death in sixteen forty three. While 177 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:52,199 Speaker 1: there was a great deal of turmoil in play at 178 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:56,200 Speaker 1: this time that impacted the aristocracy in regards to their landholdings. 179 00:10:56,640 --> 00:11:01,560 Speaker 1: Boyle's property was safe. Other people in similar situations were 180 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 1: having their estates seized by the parliamentarians. But Boyle's sister Catherine, 181 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 1: who had become Viscountess Randlaw when she married Arthur Jones, 182 00:11:10,559 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 1: had good relationships with members of the parliamentarians, which had 183 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:18,600 Speaker 1: helped ensure that Robert would get and keep his inherited land. 184 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:23,280 Speaker 1: Boyle wrote of this advantageous relationship this way, quote he 185 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:26,680 Speaker 1: reaped also a collateral advantage by it, which was that 186 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:29,400 Speaker 1: a sister in law of Lady Randlaw, who was with 187 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 1: them in the house and was wife of one of 188 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:35,079 Speaker 1: the principal members of the then House of Commons, brought 189 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:38,199 Speaker 1: him into the acquaintance and friendship of some great men 190 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 1: of that party, which was then growing and soon after victorious, 191 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,960 Speaker 1: by whose means he got early protection for his English 192 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:51,560 Speaker 1: and Irish estates. At Stalbridge, Boyle started his life's work 193 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:57,000 Speaker 1: in earnest studying science and theology in parallel. In his autobiography, 194 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 1: he wrote that quote he applied himself with great figures 195 00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:04,680 Speaker 1: to his studies of various kinds, particularly those of natural 196 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:08,040 Speaker 1: philosophy and chemistry. He had already spent a lot of 197 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 1: time studying ancient languages so that he could study religious 198 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 1: texts in their original languages. This is also when he 199 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: started writing seriously about religion and ethics, and he wrote 200 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:23,440 Speaker 1: the autobiography that we've already mentioned. He also started a 201 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:28,559 Speaker 1: series of scientific experiments, and when Boyle first got to Stalbridge, 202 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:32,360 Speaker 1: he wrote his sister a very long letter. He includes 203 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:36,120 Speaker 1: it in that autobiography, and that letter concluded, quote, my 204 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:40,160 Speaker 1: stay here, god willing, shall not be long, this country 205 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:45,440 Speaker 1: being generally infected with three epidemical diseases besides that old 206 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:48,960 Speaker 1: liger sickness, the troop flux, namely the plague which now 207 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: begins to revive again at Bristol and Jovel six miles off, 208 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:57,040 Speaker 1: fits of the committee, and consumption of the purse to 209 00:12:57,120 --> 00:12:59,880 Speaker 1: which so violent expulsives. I is so potent and a 210 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,080 Speaker 1: attractive as a letter from you were, but added it 211 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:07,439 Speaker 1: would both extremely sweeten this day and accelerate the departure 212 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:11,800 Speaker 1: of your most affectionate brother and humble servant. So he 213 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:15,320 Speaker 1: basically thought England was not cool. But his time at 214 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: Stallbridge was not short as he had hoped. He ended 215 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: up living there more than a decade. In sixteen forty seven, 216 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 1: Robert Boyle became acquainted with the Heartlibs circle, which we 217 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:28,760 Speaker 1: covered just recently, and it was through the chemists in 218 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: the group that Boyle started to think about doing his 219 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 1: own chemistry experiments. He wrote of this quote. His acquaintance 220 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:39,200 Speaker 1: with mister Samuel Hartlib began very early, and he included 221 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:42,640 Speaker 1: several letters that he wrote Heartlib in this autobiography to 222 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 1: illustrate their ongoing relationship. The two men bonded over both 223 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:50,959 Speaker 1: science and religion, and Boyle referenced writing of Heartlib's friend 224 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:54,679 Speaker 1: and collaborator John Durry on that subject. In May of 225 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:59,120 Speaker 1: sixteen forty seven, Boyle wrote a letter to Dorry encouraging 226 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:03,400 Speaker 1: his efforts to bring Lutherans and Calvinists together, stating quote, 227 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 1: it is strange that men should rather be quarreling for 228 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:10,880 Speaker 1: a few trifling opinions wherein they dissent, than to embrace 229 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:14,640 Speaker 1: one another for those many fundamental truths wherein they agree. 230 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: And it is in this letter to Heartlib that Boyle 231 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 1: mentioned that the information he had received from Heartlib gave 232 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 1: him something to do at Stalbridge, where he was kind 233 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: of lonely and bored. Quote as for me, during my 234 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:33,160 Speaker 1: confinement to this melancholy solitude, I often divert myself at 235 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:38,040 Speaker 1: leisure moments in trying such experiments as the unfurnishedness of 236 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:41,560 Speaker 1: the place and the present distractedness of my mind will 237 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:45,880 Speaker 1: permit me, which when once my vacant intervals of time, 238 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 1: will give me leave to block paper with and make 239 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:52,720 Speaker 1: some short discourses and reflections upon you may with all 240 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,200 Speaker 1: the services you shall be pleased to command their author 241 00:14:55,400 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 1: confidently expect from your most affectionate friend and humble servant. Yeah. So, 242 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,320 Speaker 1: just in case that's unclear, He's like, thank you so 243 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:06,360 Speaker 1: much for those materials you sent me. That's going to 244 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 1: help me in the experiments I want to try, and 245 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:11,160 Speaker 1: whatever I find out, I'm going to send back to 246 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:13,760 Speaker 1: you for circulation in the circle. So yeah, he was like, 247 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: this is very convenient. With my big empty house, I 248 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: have lots of space for doing experiments. I'm bored and 249 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:26,280 Speaker 1: I can do activities. Another person that became highly influential 250 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:30,800 Speaker 1: in Boyle's intellectual life also entered it during the Stalbridge years. 251 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:36,160 Speaker 1: That was physician Nathaniel Highmore. Hi Moore was educated at Oxford, 252 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: and at one point he had cared for members of 253 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 1: the royal family. He wasn't the regular royal surgeon. It 254 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,800 Speaker 1: was like an instance where at least one member of 255 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:46,000 Speaker 1: the family had gotten quite ill when they were traveling, 256 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:49,440 Speaker 1: and he happened to be the nearby doctor. By the 257 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: time Boyle met him, Himore had set up a private 258 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: practice in Sherburne, a little more than seven miles west 259 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 1: of Stallbridge. Him Moore was a leader in the medical 260 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: field in a now me In particular, he is often 261 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:06,400 Speaker 1: described as an anatomy pioneer. He is credited with being 262 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 1: the first person to describe in writing the maxillary sinus 263 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:13,880 Speaker 1: and the part of testicular anatomy that separates the testicles. 264 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: Highmore and Boyle became very fast friends, so much so 265 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 1: that when Highmore published his book The History of Generation 266 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:25,040 Speaker 1: in sixteen fifty one, he dedicated it to Robert Boyle, 267 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 1: writing to the Honorable Mister Robert Boyle, son to the 268 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: right Honorable the Earl of Cork, my much honored friend, 269 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 1: Noble Sir, Where virtue shall be found in conjunction with 270 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:40,200 Speaker 1: nobility and such black the last and worst times, it 271 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:43,280 Speaker 1: no less invites and amazes the eyes and hearers of 272 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:47,520 Speaker 1: beholders than some new star or blazing comet. But with 273 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 1: the difference, the one is cause of their fear, the 274 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:54,600 Speaker 1: other gives life to their hopes and joy. You have, sir, 275 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:58,240 Speaker 1: so enriched your tender years with such choice principles of 276 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 1: the best sort and even, and to admiration, manage them 277 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: to the greatest advantage, that you stand both a pattern 278 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:09,280 Speaker 1: and a wonder to our nobility and gentry. Along with 279 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:12,760 Speaker 1: the land he had inherited in England, Boyle also had 280 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 1: land in Ireland. During the two years that ran from 281 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:19,679 Speaker 1: sixteen fifty two to sixteen fifty four, he was frequently 282 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:23,200 Speaker 1: in Ireland, but that didn't slow down his scientific work. 283 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:27,080 Speaker 1: He had also begun years earlier to attend get togethers 284 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:29,199 Speaker 1: of the group of men who wo had come to 285 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: be known as the Invisible College. That's a name Boyle 286 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:36,760 Speaker 1: is credited with coining. Through these meetings and the relationships 287 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:39,760 Speaker 1: he developed, it became well known that Boyle was working 288 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,840 Speaker 1: in a number of areas, but especially chemistry, and that 289 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:48,080 Speaker 1: he was recording a lot of information in his home lab. Yeah, 290 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:52,199 Speaker 1: he definitely garnered a lot of respect through this, and 291 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 1: you'll often even see him described as the center of 292 00:17:55,600 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 1: the Invisible College. In sixteen fifty four, Boyle had rush 293 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:03,000 Speaker 1: returned from Ireland to Stallbridge, and he was at that 294 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:07,639 Speaker 1: point invited to join the University of Oxford. Doctor John Wilkins, 295 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:11,080 Speaker 1: who was an Anglican clergyman, a natural philosopher and the 296 00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:14,199 Speaker 1: warden of Wadham College at Oxford, had offered him a 297 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:17,679 Speaker 1: position there, and for Boyle, who had been working on 298 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:20,280 Speaker 1: his own out in the country, London had started to 299 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:24,479 Speaker 1: look really quite appealing, so in sixteen fifty five he 300 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 1: left Dorset. The move to Oxford put Boyle in close 301 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:32,199 Speaker 1: proximity to many intellectuals, and he soon fell in with 302 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 1: a group of them that includes very familiar names. Among 303 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:38,879 Speaker 1: them were John Locke and Christopher Wren. The men started 304 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:43,200 Speaker 1: meeting at Boyle's home and dubbed themselves the Experimental Philosophy Club. 305 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 1: And Boyle's scientific work also got a huge boost in 306 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 1: this move because he was able to set up a 307 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:53,399 Speaker 1: laboratory in High Street and fill it with a full staff. 308 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:57,280 Speaker 1: This enabled Boyle to do more experiments and to publish 309 00:18:57,359 --> 00:19:00,320 Speaker 1: a lot of information, and his lab became came a 310 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: hub of new discoveries that propelled the entire European scientific 311 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:08,119 Speaker 1: community forward. One of the members of Boyle's staff was 312 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 1: his assistant Robert Hook. Boyle had shared information with Hook 313 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:15,360 Speaker 1: about an air pump that had been developed in Germany 314 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:20,120 Speaker 1: in sixteen fifty four for creating a vacuum for scientific experimentation, 315 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:25,120 Speaker 1: but the German design wasn't ideal and it had performance issues. 316 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:28,880 Speaker 1: Hook solved these problems with his own version of the pump, 317 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 1: which he developed in sixteen fifty nine. The Hook model 318 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:36,800 Speaker 1: worked consistently and opened the door for an array of experiments. 319 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: He worked on projects that examined the functions of vacuums, 320 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 1: air pressure, and combustion, as well as others. In sixteen 321 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:48,080 Speaker 1: sixty Boyle published his new writing based on this work, 322 00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:52,520 Speaker 1: New Experiments Physico Mechanical Touching the Spring of the Air 323 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:56,119 Speaker 1: and its Effects. A second edition was published in sixteen 324 00:19:56,200 --> 00:20:00,359 Speaker 1: sixty two with additional notes, and In this work, Boyle 325 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:04,679 Speaker 1: described the inverse relationship between the pressure and volume of 326 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:09,040 Speaker 1: a gas at a constant temperature. He described this only 327 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 1: as a hypothesis that was based on data that he 328 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 1: collected from an experiment, but that idea would eventually be 329 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:21,159 Speaker 1: recognized as Boyle's law today, Boyle's original description is a 330 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:25,920 Speaker 1: little difficult to recognize as that law of inverse relationship 331 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:30,880 Speaker 1: that students are taught about today. This kind of interesting 332 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:33,399 Speaker 1: way that he described it was discussed at length in 333 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,400 Speaker 1: this nineteen ninety nine paper by John B. West, which 334 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:40,000 Speaker 1: was published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. West writes 335 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:44,000 Speaker 1: this of Boyle's work, quote, the original presentation of what 336 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:48,280 Speaker 1: we know as Boyle's law has several interesting features, and 337 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:52,119 Speaker 1: then West outlines these interesting features, the first being that 338 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 1: Boyle was using a very long J shaped tube was 339 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:58,720 Speaker 1: two and a half meters long, which made the whole 340 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:04,560 Speaker 1: experiment of trying to measure gas and volume a little 341 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:09,160 Speaker 1: bit tricky. Additionally, the numbers that Boyle recorded look really 342 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:13,680 Speaker 1: nutty to modernize, because his calculations led to some wild fractions. 343 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:17,600 Speaker 1: You'll see things listed as a number with ten thirteenths 344 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 1: of something and eighteen twenty thirds. Because while the concept 345 00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:24,440 Speaker 1: of decimals to represent fractions less than the number one 346 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:28,080 Speaker 1: had been used in Europe already during the seventeenth century, 347 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:32,000 Speaker 1: they weren't common and they weren't standard practice. Fractions were 348 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,200 Speaker 1: really the style of the day when it came to notation. 349 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,159 Speaker 1: And the other odd thing that West notes is that 350 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:39,800 Speaker 1: the two numbers that needed to be compared to see 351 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:43,760 Speaker 1: that relationship between pressure and volume were included in Boyle's 352 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:47,560 Speaker 1: writing in two different tables, so a reader trying to 353 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:50,879 Speaker 1: understand and grasp the concept have to look back and 354 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:54,920 Speaker 1: forth between them, which is just not very efficient. And again, 355 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:57,879 Speaker 1: it was a hypothesis. It wasn't like he was saying 356 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:01,119 Speaker 1: this was a for sure thing. But this concept was 357 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:05,640 Speaker 1: described by Boyle as an experiment and his observations. As 358 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:07,639 Speaker 1: we said a moment ago, it only later came to 359 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,359 Speaker 1: be known as Boyle's law. And we have to note 360 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:12,960 Speaker 1: too that Boyle and Hook get credit for this, but 361 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 1: they were not the only scientists trying to understand the 362 00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:22,240 Speaker 1: property of air and gases. Several other scientists arrived at 363 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 1: similar conclusions around the same time, including English physician Henry Power, 364 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 1: English mathematician Richard Townley, and French physicist Edme Mariott. So 365 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:35,520 Speaker 1: while Boyle is often called the first modern chemist, his 366 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:39,719 Speaker 1: most significant and enduring contribution to science is also something 367 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,440 Speaker 1: that is a physics concept. I feel like I learned 368 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,720 Speaker 1: Boyle's law in physics before it ever came up in chemistry. 369 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,479 Speaker 1: I think I did too. We'll talk about the founding 370 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:52,400 Speaker 1: of the Royal Society and beyond, but first we'll take 371 00:22:52,440 --> 00:23:04,800 Speaker 1: a quick sponsor break. The same year that the first 372 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:09,280 Speaker 1: edition of New Experiments Physico Mechanical was published, the Royal 373 00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:13,199 Speaker 1: Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge was founded on 374 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:16,919 Speaker 1: November twenty eighth at Gresham College when Boyle and eleven 375 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:19,760 Speaker 1: other men in his circle met after a lecture given 376 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,920 Speaker 1: by Christopher Wren. Ren was also one of the founders. 377 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: This official founding brought together a few separate but overlapping 378 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 1: kind of casual circles of natural philosophers. By the way, 379 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,560 Speaker 1: the word natural philosopher just means scientists. They just didn't 380 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:37,440 Speaker 1: have the word scientists yet. And all of these men 381 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,160 Speaker 1: had started meeting as far back as the sixteen forties, 382 00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:42,679 Speaker 1: because a big part of what brought them together was 383 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,720 Speaker 1: the writing of Sir Francis Bacon, who had put forth 384 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:49,200 Speaker 1: the idea of the scientific method, and this concept of 385 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 1: establishing a set of rules for conducting experiments and collating 386 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:57,600 Speaker 1: data and making things all work in a way that 387 00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: everyone in the field could understand. So with the founding 388 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:05,400 Speaker 1: of this formal group. It was possible to then set 389 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:09,160 Speaker 1: scheduled meetings and also to seek a royal charter, and 390 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:11,880 Speaker 1: that meant that they would have a right to publish. 391 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:16,600 Speaker 1: Robert Hook's book Micrographia was one of the group's earliest publications. 392 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 1: In sixteen sixty five, the periodical Philosophical Transactions of the 393 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:24,920 Speaker 1: Royal Society was launched that, of course, continues to date. 394 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 1: I have used it a lot in research. It is 395 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:31,240 Speaker 1: the world's first scientific journal, and that means it is 396 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:36,600 Speaker 1: also the longest running. Boyle's next book was The Skeptical Chemist, 397 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:40,159 Speaker 1: which was published in sixteen sixty one. The full title 398 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:44,720 Speaker 1: of that is The Skeptical Chemist or Chemico Physical Doubts 399 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:51,880 Speaker 1: and Paradoxes touching the Spagyrists' principles, commonly called hypostatical as 400 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:55,080 Speaker 1: they are wont to be proposed and defended by the 401 00:24:55,200 --> 00:25:00,000 Speaker 1: generality of alchemists. Whereuntio is premised part of another dis 402 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 1: course relating to the same subject. This is a scientific work, 403 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:08,320 Speaker 1: but it is presented as a fictional discussion among five characters. 404 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:10,919 Speaker 1: The whole thing takes place in a garden, and the 405 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,640 Speaker 1: characters all debate various matters that were being debated throughout 406 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:18,960 Speaker 1: the scientific community, including alchemy. He wrote it in this 407 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 1: unusual style to help people who were not scientists understand 408 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:27,199 Speaker 1: these ideas. In the preface, he states this quote, I 409 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:31,639 Speaker 1: have endeavored to deliver matters of fact so faithfully that 410 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,920 Speaker 1: I may as well assist the less skillful readers to 411 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:40,480 Speaker 1: examine the chemical hypothesis as provoked the spagyrical philosophers to 412 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:43,919 Speaker 1: illustrate it, which if they do, and that either the 413 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:48,119 Speaker 1: chemical opinion or the parapatetic or any other theory of 414 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,240 Speaker 1: the elements differing from that I am most inclined to, 415 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:57,320 Speaker 1: shall be intelligibly explicated and duly proved to me. Yeah, 416 00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:59,879 Speaker 1: in case anybody didn't know, we're not getting into it all, 417 00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:03,960 Speaker 1: holl whole lot here. Robert Boyle believed in alchemy and 418 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:10,679 Speaker 1: thought you could transmute metals, which we'll talk about a 419 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:13,920 Speaker 1: little more towards the end of the episode. Throughout all 420 00:26:13,960 --> 00:26:17,639 Speaker 1: of this scientific work, Boyle continued to write religious works 421 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:21,399 Speaker 1: as well, and he published numerous Christian essays. He also 422 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:25,159 Speaker 1: bankrolled projects that published the Bible in multiple languages, so 423 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:28,439 Speaker 1: he paid for the translation and the publication, and this 424 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,480 Speaker 1: work in the promotion of Christianity led him to a 425 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:34,600 Speaker 1: leadership position with the Company for the Propagation of the 426 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:39,919 Speaker 1: Gospel in New England. This organization, which still exists today 427 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,400 Speaker 1: as the New England Company, which is a grant giving charity, 428 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 1: was founded in sixteen forty nine, originally to send missionaries 429 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:52,240 Speaker 1: to the New England colonies to evangelize the indigenous population there. 430 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 1: Boyle was made that company's governor in sixteen sixty two. 431 00:26:57,160 --> 00:26:59,720 Speaker 1: In sixteen sixty eight, Boyle, who was then in his 432 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,680 Speaker 1: early forties, concluded his time at Oxford and moved to London. 433 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:09,120 Speaker 1: He lived there with his sister, Catherine Jones, Viscountess Renla. 434 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:11,439 Speaker 1: This was in part so that he would not be 435 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 1: living alone as is Boyle's health was not especially good. 436 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:19,080 Speaker 1: His sister had separated from her husband, so he also 437 00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:21,800 Speaker 1: provided her with companionship, and the two of them were 438 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:26,000 Speaker 1: well known and popular in London society. In his new home, 439 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:29,000 Speaker 1: Boyle was able to assemble an ideal set up for 440 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 1: his work, with a full laboratory and staff, but his 441 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:37,840 Speaker 1: popularity caused some problems. He had so many visitors dropping 442 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:40,480 Speaker 1: into chat that it interrupted his work. He had to 443 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 1: make a sign to put on the door when he 444 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:46,480 Speaker 1: was busy with his experiments to let callers know that 445 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:50,760 Speaker 1: it was not a good time. Yeah. Between him and 446 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:54,000 Speaker 1: his sister, their house was like a social hub in London. 447 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:55,919 Speaker 1: Everybody wanted to just pop by and it was like, 448 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:58,800 Speaker 1: oh no, I'm in the middle of moving air around 449 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:03,880 Speaker 1: that moved to London also enabled Boyle to regularly meet 450 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:06,960 Speaker 1: up with many of the most influential thinkers of the day. 451 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:10,560 Speaker 1: Once he was living in London, he was then at 452 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:13,640 Speaker 1: the Royal Society's epicenter, and he could be more fully 453 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:18,080 Speaker 1: involved in the organization and attend those regular meetings. He 454 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:20,840 Speaker 1: was asked to be the group's president in sixteen eighty, 455 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:25,200 Speaker 1: but he declined. Both Robert and his sister Catherine were 456 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:29,160 Speaker 1: ill in the autumn of sixteen ninety one. Catherine died 457 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:33,840 Speaker 1: on December twenty third of that year. This death devastated Boyle, 458 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:37,760 Speaker 1: and he became even sicker immediately after the loss. He 459 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:41,640 Speaker 1: died eight days later on December thirty first. The brief 460 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:44,800 Speaker 1: time between their deaths meant that Robert did not have 461 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:48,360 Speaker 1: time to update his will, which listed Catherine as one 462 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 1: of the executors and the principal beneficiary. This was very 463 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:56,200 Speaker 1: clearly a matter of him in trusting Catherine to use 464 00:28:56,240 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 1: her judgment regarding his life's work. In one second of it, 465 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:04,080 Speaker 1: he wrote, quote, I give to the said lady Randala 466 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:08,720 Speaker 1: all my manuscripts and collections of receipts, beseeching her to 467 00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:11,520 Speaker 1: have a care that they, or any of them come 468 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,800 Speaker 1: not into the hands or perusal to any to whom 469 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:17,600 Speaker 1: she thinks that, if I were alive, I should be 470 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: unwilling to have them communicated. I sort of love that. 471 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:23,080 Speaker 1: Don't give these people I don't like. You know, you 472 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:27,280 Speaker 1: know who they are, You know who they you know 473 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 1: who's on the list. He also left his collaborator and 474 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:36,560 Speaker 1: former assistant, Hook, meaningful tools of their shared trade quote, 475 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:39,960 Speaker 1: I give to mister Robert Hook, author of micrographia, now 476 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:44,520 Speaker 1: professor of Mathematics in Gresham College, my best microscope and 477 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:48,360 Speaker 1: my best loadstone. One of the book queathments that is 478 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:51,200 Speaker 1: still in play today, was a sum of money to 479 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,480 Speaker 1: set up a lecture series to examine the relationship between 480 00:29:54,520 --> 00:30:00,240 Speaker 1: science and religion. The Boil lectures started out with what 481 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:04,080 Speaker 1: would today be a very narrow and problematic focus. It 482 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:08,440 Speaker 1: was about proving Christianity to atheists and people who practiced 483 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:13,640 Speaker 1: religions other than Christianity. Over time, the lectures have taken 484 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:17,440 Speaker 1: on a more progressive worldview. Yeah, if you look at 485 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:20,560 Speaker 1: a list of these lectures from early on, they're not 486 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:26,200 Speaker 1: cool yikes. It's yeah, there's it's yikes on bikes. And 487 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:28,600 Speaker 1: there was actually a little gap from the sixties to 488 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:30,480 Speaker 1: I think two thousand and four when they started back 489 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:34,800 Speaker 1: up again, but they are still ongoing. In addition to 490 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:39,520 Speaker 1: that lecture series bequest, there were also directions for missionary 491 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:43,680 Speaker 1: efforts in North America. Boyle wrote quote, I had set apart, 492 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:47,520 Speaker 1: among other things, the sum of four hundred one for 493 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:51,520 Speaker 1: certain pious uses. And whereas his late Majesty King Charles 494 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:54,959 Speaker 1: the Second, having, by his special grace in favor, without 495 00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:58,640 Speaker 1: my seeking or knowledge, been pleased to constitute me governor 496 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:02,120 Speaker 1: of the Corporation for propagating of the Gospel amongst the 497 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 1: Heathen natives of New England and other parts of America, 498 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:09,600 Speaker 1: hath thereby given me opportunity to discern that work to 499 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:14,200 Speaker 1: be unquestionably pious and charitable. And whereas I have given 500 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:17,240 Speaker 1: and paid the sum of three hundred pounds toward that piety, 501 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 1: I do hereby give and devise the sum of one 502 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:23,720 Speaker 1: hundred pounds more to the said corporation, though by reason 503 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:26,160 Speaker 1: of sickness and infirmity, I have resigned the office of 504 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:29,719 Speaker 1: Governor to be set aside and employed as a stock 505 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:33,280 Speaker 1: for the relief of poor Indian converts, which I hope 506 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:35,560 Speaker 1: will prove of good effect for the advancement of the 507 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:38,880 Speaker 1: pious work for which they are constituted, and which I 508 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:43,160 Speaker 1: heartily pray him whose glory of the work itself tends unto, 509 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:46,000 Speaker 1: and I hope the persons entrusted with it aim at 510 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:51,120 Speaker 1: to give them a prosperous success. Yuck. So he was 511 00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:54,280 Speaker 1: one of the earliest Europeans to really throw their support 512 00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:57,520 Speaker 1: behind this idea of converting the indigenous peoples of North 513 00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:02,160 Speaker 1: America to Christianity and as immolating them into white communities, 514 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:05,400 Speaker 1: which is we have discussed many times on this show before, 515 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:10,200 Speaker 1: created so many problems for indigenous people that are still 516 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:13,720 Speaker 1: being felt and sorted out today. One of the most 517 00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:17,400 Speaker 1: touching passages in the Will, which also leaves some mysteries, 518 00:32:17,520 --> 00:32:20,840 Speaker 1: is about a ring quote I given bequeath unto my 519 00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:26,640 Speaker 1: dear sister Lady Catherine, Viscountess Randla, a small ring usually 520 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:29,640 Speaker 1: worn by me on my left hand, having in it 521 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:32,480 Speaker 1: two small diamonds with an emerald in the middle, which 522 00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:35,000 Speaker 1: ring being held by me ever since my youth in 523 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:38,000 Speaker 1: great esteem and worn for many years for a particular 524 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:41,960 Speaker 1: reason not unknown to my said sister, the lady Randla. 525 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:45,960 Speaker 1: I do earnestly beseech her, my, said sister, to wear 526 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:49,280 Speaker 1: it in remembrance of a brother that truly honored and 527 00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:53,440 Speaker 1: most dearly loved her. We don't know that meaning that 528 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:56,600 Speaker 1: they shared about that ring. We have no idea. We 529 00:32:56,720 --> 00:33:00,720 Speaker 1: also don't know where that ring is ow She had 530 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:04,000 Speaker 1: passed at that point, so she couldn't take possession of it, 531 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:07,280 Speaker 1: and no one has ever found it. It has never 532 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:10,520 Speaker 1: appeared on like any kind of inventory of you know, 533 00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:15,200 Speaker 1: somebody's holdings or a museum. I think the prevailing opinion 534 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:17,600 Speaker 1: is probably that he was buried with it. I was 535 00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:20,960 Speaker 1: gonna ask if if he buried it with her. No, 536 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:23,560 Speaker 1: he willed it to her. He wore it until he 537 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:27,320 Speaker 1: died right days later, so I was thinking. But since 538 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:30,840 Speaker 1: he didn't have time to update his will when she died, 539 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:33,200 Speaker 1: did he bury it with her? I doubt it, but 540 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:36,240 Speaker 1: I could be wrong. Nobody knows. It's possible. I don't know, 541 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:41,080 Speaker 1: but both Catherine and Robert were buried close together in 542 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:44,440 Speaker 1: the chancel of Saint Martin's in the Fields. Robert had 543 00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:48,280 Speaker 1: specified that he wanted a simple funeral quote without the 544 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:52,160 Speaker 1: least pomp. The sermon for that service was given by 545 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:56,280 Speaker 1: the Bishop of Salisbury. What if The most interesting legacies 546 00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:59,640 Speaker 1: of Boyle is his scientific wish list. This list was 547 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:02,720 Speaker 1: draft did in the early years the Royal Society, and 548 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:07,320 Speaker 1: it features two dozen concepts that in some instances seem 549 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:11,719 Speaker 1: wildly outlandish but in other sort of prescient. It's a 550 00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:15,000 Speaker 1: good illustration of how long we've been chasing certain dreams 551 00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:18,240 Speaker 1: and ideas and how far we've come and fulfilling those ideas. 552 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:21,279 Speaker 1: Some of the things that we have managed to do 553 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:25,960 Speaker 1: include the prolongation of life. We have made some progress 554 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:29,280 Speaker 1: here since Boil's time, although there's a whole separate discussion 555 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:33,760 Speaker 1: about life expectancy versus life span and how long people 556 00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:36,920 Speaker 1: actually lived in the past, Like how much of this 557 00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:39,960 Speaker 1: is about deaths in childhood, All of that, all of 558 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,720 Speaker 1: that's outside the scope of this episode. Though there's also 559 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:46,759 Speaker 1: the recovery of youth, or at least some of the 560 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:50,680 Speaker 1: marks of it as new teeth, new hair colored as 561 00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:55,240 Speaker 1: in youth, the art of flying, the practicable and certain 562 00:34:55,280 --> 00:35:01,239 Speaker 1: way of finding longitudes. Potent drugs to alter or exalt imagination, 563 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:05,759 Speaker 1: waking memory and other functions, and appease pain for cure 564 00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:10,600 Speaker 1: innocent sleep, harmless dreams, et cetera. Cure of diseases at 565 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:15,320 Speaker 1: a distance or at least by transplantation, and the making 566 00:35:15,719 --> 00:35:20,360 Speaker 1: armor light and extremely hard. Yeah, that's stuff we figured 567 00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:22,640 Speaker 1: out for the most part. I mean, there's lots of 568 00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:25,520 Speaker 1: things we could still do. But yeah, I'm wondering what 569 00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:28,239 Speaker 1: he meant by cure of diseases at a distance. I 570 00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:30,920 Speaker 1: don't know. But we did get the transplantation thing mostly 571 00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:34,640 Speaker 1: figured out there. We did get transplantation. I know. There 572 00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:37,120 Speaker 1: are various kind of new agy things that are about 573 00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:39,680 Speaker 1: sort of healing other people at a distance with your mind, 574 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:42,239 Speaker 1: And is that what he was about. I don't think so, 575 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:45,800 Speaker 1: But I don't know. Some of these don't have any notations. 576 00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:48,000 Speaker 1: If you look at the list, it's just the List's 577 00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:51,839 Speaker 1: not like the things that he writes. Some of his thing. 578 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:55,799 Speaker 1: Items on the list are longer than others, but it's 579 00:35:55,920 --> 00:36:00,400 Speaker 1: just the list. There's no intentional notes, there are some 580 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:03,000 Speaker 1: things we have not yet managed to achieve, right, the 581 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:08,239 Speaker 1: art of continuing long underwater and exercising functions freely. There 582 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:11,440 Speaker 1: This ties into the next one, which is the emulating 583 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:15,680 Speaker 1: of fish without engines by custom and education only. So 584 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:18,759 Speaker 1: the idea that you could just learn, yeah, how to 585 00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:21,640 Speaker 1: hang out underwater. If we could just you know, crack 586 00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:26,000 Speaker 1: the code, a ship to sail with all winds and 587 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:29,480 Speaker 1: a ship not to be sunk. We have certainly managed 588 00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:32,000 Speaker 1: to create ships that operate without need of wind, but 589 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:36,200 Speaker 1: not that are unsinkable. Yeah, less easy to sink than 590 00:36:36,239 --> 00:36:39,319 Speaker 1: they used to be, but not unsinkable. Yeah. We we 591 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:43,360 Speaker 1: do have things like scuba gear now, but you gotta 592 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:46,080 Speaker 1: have the gear. You just can't think your way into 593 00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:49,560 Speaker 1: staying under the water indefinitely. I'm learn I'm gonna go 594 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:52,560 Speaker 1: to living underwater school and I'm going to learn all 595 00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:56,160 Speaker 1: the ways. There are also some things on this wish 596 00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:59,160 Speaker 1: list that are kind of debatable in their achievement or 597 00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:03,960 Speaker 1: they're just problematic. There's the transmutation of metals, for example. 598 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:07,279 Speaker 1: That's certainly part of Boyle's interests in alchemy, and this 599 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:11,680 Speaker 1: desire to create precious metals from non precious ones. We 600 00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:16,680 Speaker 1: can sort of do it today with particle accelerators or 601 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:20,319 Speaker 1: nuclear reactions, but the expense of doing that is way 602 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:24,399 Speaker 1: more than the amount of gold you can produce. That way, 603 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:29,399 Speaker 1: there's freedom from necessity of much sleeping, exemplified by the 604 00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:34,680 Speaker 1: operations of Tea and what happens in mad Men. That 605 00:37:34,719 --> 00:37:37,560 Speaker 1: has some issues as well. We do have stimulants that 606 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:41,239 Speaker 1: they can stave off sleepiness, but the idea of figuring 607 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:44,240 Speaker 1: out what makes people with mental illness unable to sleep 608 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:48,920 Speaker 1: and then harnessing that to make you able to stay awake, 609 00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:54,160 Speaker 1: that's tricky and troubling. Really. Also, no matter what stimulant 610 00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:57,080 Speaker 1: you might use short term, your body ultimately needs to sleep. 611 00:37:57,680 --> 00:37:59,560 Speaker 1: We know there are a lot of problems that come 612 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:03,360 Speaker 1: from not get sleep. Similarly, Boyle also wanted to study 613 00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:06,440 Speaker 1: the quote strength and agility of the body that people 614 00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:12,239 Speaker 1: with epilepsy and quote hysteria appeared to exhibit. So there 615 00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:16,560 Speaker 1: are some interesting goals and ideas in this list. It's 616 00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:21,640 Speaker 1: overall kind of a mixed bag. Yeah, it's interesting when 617 00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:29,040 Speaker 1: you read a lot of biographical sketches of him. It's 618 00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:33,279 Speaker 1: a lot about the cool ones. Sure, sure, not much 619 00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:35,520 Speaker 1: mention of the like, whoa he wanted to do? What 620 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:39,719 Speaker 1: with what? I'm not saying any of that is okay, 621 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:41,920 Speaker 1: but I will give him the modicum of grace that 622 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:45,759 Speaker 1: comes with writing this in the sixteen sixties when we 623 00:38:45,880 --> 00:38:52,360 Speaker 1: did not really understand various diseases, mental illnesses, etc. The 624 00:38:52,400 --> 00:38:55,640 Speaker 1: way we do now. Just the idea that you could 625 00:38:55,640 --> 00:38:58,560 Speaker 1: harness the things that like I'm air quoting this so hard, 626 00:38:58,640 --> 00:39:02,759 Speaker 1: the beneficial parts of having any of those is really 627 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:06,480 Speaker 1: creepy to me. But Robert Boyle, I really want to 628 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:08,160 Speaker 1: know what the deal was with that rank, What did 629 00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:09,960 Speaker 1: it mean between the two of them. Yeah, it could 630 00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:13,840 Speaker 1: be a scandalo, but he's really interesting. The thing that 631 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:16,680 Speaker 1: is funny is that of all of the experimenting he did, 632 00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:21,280 Speaker 1: none of his stuff really like remains in play except 633 00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:23,799 Speaker 1: for Boyle's Law, which was kind of just like a footnote. 634 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:26,600 Speaker 1: I think it appears in the appendix of that second edition. 635 00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:29,239 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, And the rest of it was a lot 636 00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:32,000 Speaker 1: of work, and he did bring people together, which is important. 637 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:34,719 Speaker 1: But it's kind of fascinating to me that he is 638 00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:37,799 Speaker 1: this very important person in science history, but like what 639 00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:41,200 Speaker 1: he achieved in science is not all that much in 640 00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:44,040 Speaker 1: terms of Yeah, it's more like he helped people with 641 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:46,200 Speaker 1: the concept that we could keep moving forward and keep 642 00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:48,960 Speaker 1: trying new things. Also, again, do not go looking for 643 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:52,359 Speaker 1: that list of lectures if you are not ready to 644 00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:55,680 Speaker 1: be grossed out by the titles of those lectures saying 645 00:39:55,880 --> 00:40:02,360 Speaker 1: very disparaging things about other religions. They are yucky, but 646 00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:06,360 Speaker 1: that is uh. Robert Boyle, do you have some listener 647 00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:09,520 Speaker 1: mail for us? Also, I surely do. Let me pull 648 00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:16,320 Speaker 1: it up here. Listen, this listener mail is not about 649 00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:20,520 Speaker 1: history at all, Okay, but I love it. If I 650 00:40:20,760 --> 00:40:24,400 Speaker 1: just want to talk about it, I have other history 651 00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:26,200 Speaker 1: ones I will talk about, but this is from our 652 00:40:26,239 --> 00:40:30,840 Speaker 1: listener Tiffany. The title was demon Cats at the Vet. Oh, yeah, 653 00:40:30,960 --> 00:40:33,720 Speaker 1: I read this. I liked this email a lot. Listen. 654 00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:36,520 Speaker 1: I had some kinship feelings with this email, which is 655 00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:39,279 Speaker 1: why I wanted to read it. Tiffany writes, You're behind 656 00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:42,040 Speaker 1: the scenes discussion about cats at the vet had me giggling. 657 00:40:42,239 --> 00:40:44,560 Speaker 1: I had a cat named Kitty who was infamous for 658 00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:48,279 Speaker 1: terrorizing any medical professional. We would warn the tex and 659 00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:51,440 Speaker 1: Vets that they had approximately fifteen seconds from the opening 660 00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:54,880 Speaker 1: of the crate until bloodshed, so they needed to come prepared. 661 00:40:55,440 --> 00:40:58,359 Speaker 1: Bless our vet for always being so willing to treat her. 662 00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:01,719 Speaker 1: Despite this, her file received the designation of having a 663 00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:04,160 Speaker 1: comically large red stop sign on the front of it, 664 00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:07,200 Speaker 1: along with several bright red tabs running down the side, 665 00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:10,719 Speaker 1: indicating that she was not to be handled. One time, 666 00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:12,399 Speaker 1: my husband took her to the VET and a new 667 00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:15,200 Speaker 1: tech looked at the repeated warnings and said, I'm a 668 00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:18,600 Speaker 1: cat whisperer. It'll be fine. My husband pleaded with the 669 00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:21,640 Speaker 1: tech to get the gauntlets and wait until everybody was ready, 670 00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:24,440 Speaker 1: but to no avail. She opened the crate and the 671 00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:28,439 Speaker 1: inevitable happened. As the tech was heading to urgent care. 672 00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:31,759 Speaker 1: My husband was falling all over himself to apologize for 673 00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:35,840 Speaker 1: our demon cat. I have had this exact moment. The vet, 674 00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:37,880 Speaker 1: who was now in the room trying to diffuse our 675 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:40,720 Speaker 1: angry cat, held up the giant and I mean giants 676 00:41:40,719 --> 00:41:43,640 Speaker 1: stop sign on the chart and shrugged, saying, we can't 677 00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:46,680 Speaker 1: make the stop sign any bigger. I missed that evil 678 00:41:46,719 --> 00:41:49,080 Speaker 1: cat dearly. For as much as she was a terror 679 00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:52,480 Speaker 1: to everybody else, she was my special cuddlebug for pet 680 00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:54,640 Speaker 1: tax I've attached a picture of her cuddled up with 681 00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:57,800 Speaker 1: our retired greyhound in one of their many shared naps. 682 00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:00,279 Speaker 1: This was the picture that made me realize that we 683 00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:03,000 Speaker 1: somehow had ended up with the pets for the Simpsons. 684 00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:06,319 Speaker 1: Thank you for all you do, Tiffany. You do. They 685 00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:09,080 Speaker 1: have snowball in Santa's little helper right there. I love it. 686 00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:14,960 Speaker 1: You could have written this about mister Burns, same exact thing. 687 00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:18,840 Speaker 1: Sent a tech to the er, destroyed some drywall in 688 00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:22,879 Speaker 1: the vet's office. I felt so bad, but my vet 689 00:42:22,920 --> 00:42:24,799 Speaker 1: was the same. Although my vet got to the point 690 00:42:24,840 --> 00:42:28,000 Speaker 1: where I had some training on how to handle some 691 00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:35,240 Speaker 1: things at home rather than in danger her staff. Yeah. Yeah, 692 00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:37,520 Speaker 1: because mister Burns would also fight with one of our 693 00:42:37,560 --> 00:42:40,759 Speaker 1: other cats sometimes. It never got crazy crazy, but there 694 00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:44,520 Speaker 1: were some times some scrapes and cuts. Although mister Burns 695 00:42:44,520 --> 00:42:46,640 Speaker 1: also had the best injury that made him look super 696 00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:49,560 Speaker 1: street tough. But he did it to himself, which is 697 00:42:49,640 --> 00:42:51,839 Speaker 1: he had a split in one of his ears. But 698 00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:54,080 Speaker 1: it was because he was scratching one day and his 699 00:42:54,640 --> 00:42:57,200 Speaker 1: claw got hooked in it, and I swear he just 700 00:42:57,239 --> 00:42:58,960 Speaker 1: looked at me and shrugged and yanked it the rest 701 00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:00,600 Speaker 1: of the way and was like, I guess my ear 702 00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:04,319 Speaker 1: split now, Like, yeah, he's also my baby. I love 703 00:43:04,360 --> 00:43:08,560 Speaker 1: this kitty is amazing. I understand, I understand the bad 704 00:43:08,600 --> 00:43:11,680 Speaker 1: cat that is your barnacle special baby. I just wanted 705 00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:18,680 Speaker 1: to honor that today. So cute listen cats animals. I 706 00:43:18,719 --> 00:43:20,440 Speaker 1: feel like both of our cats have probably gone down 707 00:43:20,480 --> 00:43:22,880 Speaker 1: in history and those texts are probably telling their friends 708 00:43:22,920 --> 00:43:25,080 Speaker 1: right now about the horrible animals they had to deal with. 709 00:43:25,719 --> 00:43:28,480 Speaker 1: But they make for good stories. So thank you Tiffany 710 00:43:28,520 --> 00:43:31,600 Speaker 1: for writing down. If you would like to write to 711 00:43:31,680 --> 00:43:36,200 Speaker 1: us about your poorly behaved animals and solidarity or anything else, really, 712 00:43:36,200 --> 00:43:38,640 Speaker 1: you can write about history stuff. You can do that 713 00:43:38,719 --> 00:43:42,279 Speaker 1: at History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. If you want 714 00:43:42,280 --> 00:43:44,359 Speaker 1: to see the show notes from the episode, they are 715 00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:47,400 Speaker 1: available at mystinhistory dot com for any of the episodes 716 00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:50,520 Speaker 1: we have done. If you have yet to subscribe to 717 00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:52,400 Speaker 1: the podcast and you want to do that, that is 718 00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:55,200 Speaker 1: easiest pie You can do it on the iHeartRadio app 719 00:43:55,280 --> 00:44:03,400 Speaker 1: or anywhere you listen to your favorite shows. Stuff you 720 00:44:03,480 --> 00:44:06,560 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For 721 00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:11,120 Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 722 00:44:11,239 --> 00:44:13,240 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.