What scientists want: Robert Boyles to-do list

27 August 2010 by Felicity Henderson

Have you ever wished you could swim underwater for extended periods without scuba-gear?
Wanted to be taller? Wished you could put a halt to the ageing process? As it happens, youre
not alone. Over three hundred years ago, Robert Boyle FRS wrote a list of things that he hoped
could be achieved through science. Beginning with The Prolongation of Life, the list includes
items such as emulating fish by custom and education only, attaining gigantick
dimensions, and recovery of youth, or at least the signs of it.

For me, the fascinating thing about the list is its eclectic mixture of topics for research. Today
most of us would consider the prolongation of life as a worthy cause (although this may not
necessarily have been so in the deeply religious culture of Boyles time); we would perhaps be
more dubious about the usefulness of teaching people how to swim underwater like fish. Id
definitely like to see A perpetuall light discovered in my lifetime, but Varnishes perfumable
by rubbing? Um, not something Id ever really thought about. But thats the other thing I love
about this list the way it shows the curiosity of the early Fellows of the Royal Society about
every aspect of life. They were just beginning to realise that it was possible to know more
about how the world works, and Boyles list shows how eager they were to make discoveries
that would change the lives of ordinary people for the better.

Boyles list of scientific projects:

The Prolongation of Life.

The Recovery of Youth, or at least some of the Marks of it, as new Teeth, new Hair colourd 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 exemplifyd by the Operations of Tea and what
happens in Mad-Men.

Pleasing Dreams and physicall Exercises exemplifyd by the Egyptian Electuary and by the
Fungus mentioned by the French Author.

Great Strength and Agility of Body exemplifyd by that of Frantick Epileptick and Hystericall
persons.

A perpetuall Light.

Varnishes perfumable by Rubbing.