Work in Progress: Robert Boyle’s wish list

  • The Prolongation of Life.
  • The Recovery of Youth, or at least some of the Marks of it, as new Teeth, new Hair colour’d as in youth.
  • The Art of Flying.
  • The Art of Continuing long under water, and exercising functions freely there.
  • The Cure of Wounds at a Distance.
  • The Cure of Diseases at a distance or at least by Transplantation.
  • The Attaining Gigantick Dimensions.
  • The Emulating of Fish without Engines by Custome and Education only.
  • The Acceleration of the Production of things out of Seed.
  • The Transmutation of Metalls.
  • The makeing of Glass Malleable.
  • The Transmutation of Species in Mineralls, Animals, and Vegetables.
  • The Liquid Alkaest and Other dissolving Menstruums.
  • The making of Parabolicall and Hyperbolicall Glasses.
  • The making Armor light and extremely hard.
  • The practicable and certain way of finding Longitudes.
  • The use of Pendulums at Sea and in Journeys, and the Application of it to watches.
  • Potent Druggs to alter or Exalt Imagination, Waking, Memory, and other functions, and appease pain, procure innocent sleep, harmless dreams, etc.
  • A Ship to saile with All Winds, and A Ship not to be Sunk.
  • Freedom from Necessity of much Sleeping exemplify’d by the Operations of Tea and what happens in Mad-Men.
  • Pleasing Dreams and physicall Exercises exemplify’d by the Egyptian Electuary and by the Fungus mentioned by the French Author.
  • Great Strength and Agility of Body exemplify’d by that of Frantick Epileptick and Hystericall persons.
  • A perpetuall Light.
  • Varnishes perfumable by Rubbing.

Royal Society Archives RB/1/8/30

Late 17th Century
https://royalsociety.org/blog/2010/08/what-scientists-want-boyle-list/


One response to “Work in Progress: Robert Boyle’s wish list”

  1. Judy McKelvey Avatar
    Judy McKelvey

    If only he could see today’s inventions.. he was saw the need which was the start.

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