1-157-613 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Robert Boyle's second air pump, c1660 (1725). The pump is being used to evacuate a bell jar to examine the effect on an animal inside it. Robert Boyle (1627-1691) was a physicist and chemist who carried out many experiments on air, vacuum, combustion, and respiration. In 1662 he formulated Boyle's Law, which states that the pressure and volume of gas are inversely proportional. From an edition of Boyle's work published in 1725.