The "experimental method," it is commonly argued, arose with the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century. This experimental method is one of the most important traits of science which distinguish it from other kinds of knowledge which make claims about the world (religion, the occult, astrology, for example). Robert Boyle, a rich nobleman who became a leading chemical experimenter of 17th century England, one of the founders of the Royal Society, the discoverer of "Boyle's law" etc., is as important in the history and philosophy of science for his justifications of the experimental method as he is for the science he actually carried out. Yet, while Boyle's experimental philosophy is considered important by all who examine them, there is no agreement on what he is really arguing. Indeed, recent work within the European tradition of the history and sociology of science has argued that Boyle's practices "involved in the generation and justification of proper knowledge were part of the settlement and protection of a certain kind of social order." Dr. Sargent has taken this social construction of science approach head on and tries to show the role Boyle had in pushing the experimental method not for social and political purposes but for the advance of science. Under this grant, she will examine unpublished manuscripts housed in the Royal Society of London in order to carry out an in-depth systematic account of the details of Boyle's scientific practice and the manner in which he defended it against the serious criticisms of other natural philosophers of his day. This work will lead to a significant contribution to Boyle scholarship. Further, because of Boyle's importance in providing a sophisticated epistemological foundation for experimentation, this study promises to make a valuable contribution to current issues in philosophy of science as well as to current debates in the historiography of science.
