Robert Boyle is called the father of modern chemistry, but he never stopped believing in alchemy. The man who established Boyle’s Law, pioneered the experimental method, and helped found the Royal Society also kept a secret wish list of inventions he believed were possible — including flight, life extension, and transmutation of metals. Nearly every item on that list has since come true.

This episode traces Boyle from his aristocratic Irish childhood through his vacuum pump experiments, his founding role in the Royal Society, and the alchemical ambitions he pursued alongside his rigorous chemistry.

• Boyle’s aristocratic origins and his grand tour education across Renaissance Europe
• The Sceptical Chymist and the argument that broke chemistry free from ancient Greek elements
• Boyle’s Law, the vacuum pump experiments, and the founding of the Royal Society
• The secret wish list of future inventions and the alchemical dreams he never abandoned