BOYLE. ROBERT. 1627-1691.


Some Considerations Touching the Usefulness of Experimental Naturall Philosophy. Oxford: Henry Hall for Richard Davis, 1663. WITH: Of the Usefulness of Naturall Philosophy, the Second Part. Oxford, 1671.2 parts in 1 volume. 8vo (195 x 152 mm). Contemporary calf. Top joint cracked, old crease to I1, K2 and K3, with darkening to paper around crease.FIRST EDITION of both works. Part 1 gives an argument in favor of the experimental approach to science championed by Boyle, while part 2 goes into specifics of human physiology. "The work as a whole shows a most surprising knowledge of natural history, medicine, physics, and chemistry, in many respects far in advance of his age, and it is of special importance for its comments on medicine" (Fulton). Boyle also summarizes the experiments that he had undertaken to investigate the Harvey-Cartesian controversy about the motion of the heart and circulation. Fulton 50 and 43; Wing B4029 and B4031.