For centuries people believed that everything was made of just three or four substances, which were mistakenly called elements. It was Boyle who first set science on the right track and asserted the true nature of elements and compounds.

Boyle's father was an Englishman who made his fortune in Ireland and became a successful landowner there. Boyle was his seventh son and the youngest of fourteen children. By the time Boyle was born, his father had become an earl and was one of the wealthiest men in the country. Like his father, Boyle was an industrious worker; before he entered the prestigious Eton school at the age of eight, he was already speaking Greek and Latin. His passion for reading and learning continued to grow, and Boyle proved to be a gifted student with an excellent memory.

At an early age, Boyle and his brother went to Europe...