摘要：

ROBERT BOYLE (1627-91) was the prime exemplar of the experimental philosophy espoused by the Royal Society in its formative years. In a whole series of books in which experimental and experiential data was carefully expounded, Boyle sought to vindicate a mechanistic view of nature at the expense of rival theories, notably the worldview associated with Aristotelian scholasticism. Boyle was also a major apologist for the new science, expounding its rationale, working out its philosophical implications and reflecting at length on the mutual relations between science and religion. Recent studies have added a new dimension to our understanding of Boyle, illustrating the complexity of his view of the world and the extent of his debt to such intellectual traditions as alchemy. We also now have a better understanding than hitherto of Boyle's intellectual evolution, and it has become clear that the serene image of him that has come down to posterity belies a complex personality which makes better sense of his intellectual career.

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