Robert Boyle's prophetic scientific predictions from the 17th century go on display at the Royal Society

Heath Robinson & Wallace (of Wallace & Grommit) are among my heroes. I'm so thankful that there are clever people out there who invent things. Whoever invented gaffer tape has often saved my day.

When my son was about 3yrs old, we watched what was definitely a "B" movie on TV about Nostradamus. (Head in a bell-jar on a laborotary bench, the windows & lights reflecting off the glass.) My son's response was to spend the next 3 days running round the house with my stainless steel kitchen colander over his face, solemnly intoning "I am Nostradamus."

I'm waiting for the that real life air brush invention -- the one that Oprah uses on her magazine cover to air brush...........well, just about everything :). 

I'd like to see the wishes he made that didn't come true (yet?). I also wonder how many ideas that we'd consider quite fanciful will be commonplace in the 24th century.

Wallace  &  Grommit?   Now  you're  talking,  Hazel...

YouTube  has  GREAT  short  video  clips  of  the  best  of  Wallace  &  Gromit  animated  cartoons......

Boyle's law of gases and pressures is the chief reason we have food storage. It is the principle of refrigeration,air conditioning,and many more facets of science. I use it every day to analyze the problems with a/c and commercial food storage.  And my GPS gets me to the job. And my Kevlar gloves have kept my fingers protected,and my saftey goggles,and breather mask have all done their jobs, much better protection than the Knights of Olde got from their armour suit...

And does anyone remeber Mr. Wizard? Don Herbert did more to advance science for us 'boomers' than Darth Vader does for today's gen "D" (stands for digital)...and there was a truely great science series from the B.B.C. with a guy named David Attenborough, maybe 50 years worth....but hey, that was before all the kids needed to know what some young "talent" was wearing,or where her new piercing is....I hope that doesn't come across as bitter....

It's 3.45pm here. I'm absolutely full having been out to lunch with friends. The doggy-bag was a great invention. It's our Derby Day so I'm going to chill out on the sofa & watch the horses.

Ah Mr. Boyle and the utilization of the Scientific Method has proven that after observation there comes prediction based on deductive reasoning. There is artistic beauty in taking an idea and seeing it materialize in the form of a theory that leads to concrete solutions often to make life better (when not used for warfare). I often say that the precise greek definition of "angels" are "mesengers", the purveyors of ideas that flood our minds as we observe our world each day inspiring creativity and invention.   

RoadYacht:   I  remember  Mr.  Wizard.    FURTHERMORE   in  my  hands  this  very  moment  is  the 1st  edition  of  "Dr.  Posin's  Giants,"   by  Dan  Q.  Posin,  PhD.     His  show  on  Chicago's  public  tv  network  {Channel  11}   was  a  favorite  of  mine.   Since  1961  I  have  kept  this   book,   a  treasure  to  behold,  since  each  of  the  26  chapters  talks  about  one  of  the  greatest  scientists  of  all  time,   with  easy  to  understand  examples  of  their  signature  brillant  theory.    I've  used  this  book  recently,  to  debunk  prosecutorial  junk  science  "expert"  testimony,   and  to  help  me  understand  how  to  reduce  to  plain  English  what  my  own  witness  is  trying  to  say.    This  was  a  Christmas  gift  in  1961  from  my  parents,  who  bless  their  hearts  had  no  idea  what  a  firestorm  they  were  going  to  create  inside  of  me.......
UNFORTUNATELY   it  doesn't  address  some  phenomena,   such  as  why  men  never  ask  for  directions,  or  how  Sister  Scholastica  always  knew  exactly  who  it  was  that  was  passing  notes  in  the  back  of  the  class,  even  though  she  was  facing  the  blackboard.....

I'm no chemist, but not understanding how things work in nature doesn't preclude me from making predictions on things to come...speaking of which, look what Star Trek did for the 21st century?!!  My main squeeze, who happens to be a chemist kinda person, tells me Boyle's work did wonders for avionics.  (He's a quiet type, so that's about all he had to tell me about that..Pressure and all...you know.)   It wasn't until years, many of them, (from my point of view, anyway), it occured to me the reason I had trouble learning and memorizing the periodic table was because I didn't look at the elements as individual "personalities", so to speak, that, they each have likes and dislikes as well as having dramatic relationships with some of the other elements.  Not unlike life's experiences.  Well, I still haven't gotten the periodic table memorized, e.g. atomic wts and all that jazz, but, my relationships with people have improved.  (Pardon my digressing). My daughter just returned from Mustang Island TX...(I have shared this site with her; hope she joins in)...and must return her email.   Imagine that.unconditionally yours.   Carol: my mainsqueeze sez thanks for the hug on MemDay. 

Okay.  Now I get it.  In order for me to address anyone on the site, it must be its own post.Let' see:  Carol: my mainsqueeze sez thanks for the hug on MemDay. 

JM Ringler---mainsqeeze is very welcome.  thank YOU for remembering!

Oh yes, I remember Mr. Wizard!  But then I remember most things from long ago; it's a few minutes ago that I have the most trouble with (or shall I say, "with which I have the most trouble?") :)

.....and ah yes, Wallace and Gromit too -- great website for them http://www.wallaceandgromit.com. ; Sometimes I just need a little nudge and then it all comes back to me.

JM Ringler~ I don't think there's any rules & regulations on this site- apart from good manners. Different people post stuff in their own style. I just change the type to italic if I mention somebody's name, or nom de plume, or computer alias. You don't have to be a genius to be here either. Periodic Tables - huh! I still grapple with times tables.
 
Bert~ I have a collection of very old Illustrated London News & the catalogue (A leather-bound tome) of the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace. I also have a pile of vintage MAD magazine (let's hear it for Alfred E Neuman, what would he have to say about political correctness?) Each in it's own way has provided me with ammunition to de-bunk half-baked claptrap.
 
 

When I look back 100 years ago, to 1910, I am astonished at what we have created--both good and bad.  Advances in medicine, all different technologies, and the changes in the way we view things are no less than truly marvelous.  Life expectancy has increased, along with the quality of life to go with it.  We can communicate instantly nearly anywhere in the world, with pictures, as well.  The other side of this still-spinning coin is the abuse of these advancements.  Taking a microcosm of technological advancement--the internet--we see the ability to send electronic letters, buy things, get advice (good and bad), and visit places virtually we might never otherwise see.  The other side of the coin is the accessibility to pornography, the pirates who attempt to rob our savings accounts, the fomenting of electronic hate, and the viral spread of political invective.  Boyle's prediction of drugs to cure diseases and aid sleep have come wonderfully true.  I doubt he foresaw the abuses of these chemicals.  Predictions can be easily made by drawing a line from the past to the present, then extending that line into the future.  ACCURATE predicitions are the products of genius, among which Mr. Boyle stands.  As a  boy, I read the Tom Swift series, anything by Robert Heinlein, Issac Asimov, and other science fiction authors, as was eager to witness these incredible futures.  I still read science fiction, history, fantasy, detective and mystery stories, and still love the stories, but am a little more cautious about the future...

Andy,  thanks  so  much  for  the  link,   I love  Wallace  &  Gromit.....
 
Hazel,   debunking  half-baked  claptrap  is  a  good  thing,   analytical  thinking  and  critical  analysis  seems  to  be  somewhat  of  a  lost  art.    This  website  is  a  good  mental  exercise,   it  helps  keep  me  sharp,  and  I  would  be  the  1st  to  admit  that  I  don't  have  exclusive  license  on  helpful  information  that's  out  there.....
 
Speaking  of  the  free  &  open  exchange  of  ideas,  the  College  of  Complexes  in  Chicago  meets  tonight  to  do  exactly  that.   The  topic  of  the  week  will  be  "Should  Chicagoans  have  the  right  to  maintain  &  bear  firearms?"   ......    What's  the  1st  thing  that  the  moderator  will  have  to  do  prior  to  the  presentation?   Try  to  discreetly  disarm  those  in  attendance.....lol   

Ms Leeze:  I beg your pardon.  I'm just a meek and lowly grasshopper in need of enlightenment.

Really off-topic, but I've been curious about something for a long time.....on our "Eyedentity" page, bottom right there is something called Private Notebook....what is that all about?  how do you operate it? etc., etc., etc.,.    

You're welcome Bert; I love all those old cartoons, for want of a better word, that were on television when my children were young.  Thank you all for reminding me of them; brought a smile :)

Bert~ Don't start me off! Kids in University over here can get away with doing a Ph.D in shoe-lace tying. Well, not quite, but somebody did one on "Why toast always lands butter-side down" -Honest!
I hope the moderator at the Chicago conference is suitably disarming. BBC UK News headlines is yet another story of a sick person going on a shooting spree &, having killed & seriously wounded several people, turned the gun on himself. Poor man. Even sadder for his innocent victims.
 

JM Rinlger~ I was trying to be friendly & helpful, as your earlier post sounded like you were not sure how to ..... O sod it, I was just trying to be nice. Forgive me if you found it patronising.

Hazel -- I love it:  "O sod it" -- can I borrow that?   I'll give you credit.

JM Ringler -- we all are -- at least I am -- and a little in awe of the learned people on this site

Carol~ Re: Your post 1.20pm - I haven't the faintest idea!

Andy~ You're welcome.

When I look back on the advances in technology over my lifetime... it is astounding. The PC alone has truly changed the world.

And when I realize that the newest snazziest inventions have been in the works for 20 years... kinda makes ya wonder what in the world could be on workbenches right now. Science fiction should be re-named "science prediction"...

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHH! EVERYBODY, Especiaially JM Ringler, the bit in my 2.06pm post that went ..... ...should have said "How to comply with the protocol of this site" - which is blissfully informal. Never in a million years would I wish to imply that anybody on this site is not friendly & helpful.
 

Andy et al~ I had a brilliant mentor in High School, who advised me that if I ever felt intimidaded by anybody, I should imagine them sitting on the pan with their trousers/knickers round their ankles. It stood me in good stead for job interviews & other ooo-errr situations, until one day I went for a job interview & the receptionist taking me to meet the interviewer said "Mr *** is feeling very self-concious as he had a silly accident yesterday that left him with a little limp" so me, being me, asked "A little limp what?" & I trashed the interview 'cos I couldn't stop laughing. Strange to relate, I got the job.

hazel leese---you, my dear, are an absolute riot!!  Instead of posting on the Eye you should be writing your memiors.  But, on second thought, please don't!  we'd miss all the funny stories and comments too much.

Hazel that's really quite funny and, you got the job!  Good for you.
 
This is a lovely site with many friendly people.  I'm intimidated by their knowledge and worldliness but do not feel patronized to or unwelcome.  And, let it be said, that although I was really a little leery at first, I do believe that they're guarding our information -- I've not gotten any "funny" emails since joinging.

Hazel:    I  go  to  BBC  for  news  every  day,  I  love  the  different  perspectives  on  the  same  stories.   Shoulda  seen  the  commentator  the  morning  after  our  primary  election  in  Kentucky  recently,  his  inflection  &  facial  body  language  were  priceless,  when  he  told  his  audience  that  "....in  The  Colonies  yesterday,  the  Kentucky  candidate  representing  the  TEA  PARTY  soundly  thrashed  the  conventional  endorsed  Republican  candidate,  by  a  2:1  ratio."     I  guess  if  you're  British,    it's  pretty  hard  not  to  show  your  distain  for  ANYONE  naming  their  political  affiliation  after  a  group  of  hooligans  who  tossed  an   entire  ship  load  of  expensive  tea  into  Boston  Harbor.....

ANDY:  At least you remember the things that count .......  I'm sure Don Herbert would appreciate that .......

TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK:   Does anybody remember Danny O'Day's Dog's Name ???  (the Dog was a Ventriloquists' Dummy)

was it Farfel?  or am I remembering something else??

CAROL:  YOU GOTTIT !!!!!!!  You too have an excellent memory ... Danny happened to be in the Studio the day Harry VonZell was fired for being too drunk to go on with the Shooting of a Texaco Commercial (Couldn't say, PETROX) and Texaco was a little nervous about Harry anyway, as he had been fired by Mrs. Baird's Bread the week before, for blowing the Tag Line on their Commercial, and getting the hypocrites at the Hayes Office on the Warpath ....... Anyhow, Danny was drafted to take Harry's place, which got him back on television, after his first and only shot on Ed Sullivan's Show ... Sullivan put him back on several times after his repeated exposure on Texaco's Commercials ... Even Farfel could say, PETROX ... (That was Texaco's Octane Booster ... Platformate for Shell ... and Nickel for Sinclair instead of TetraEthyl Lead)

Harry VonZell is an alien. I seent him in an outer space museum about 20th C television. He did not look drunk to me!

It finally occured to me that pressure and gas are worthy of discussion.

Danny O'day was an old time radio voice,too. Park4 should remember that from the old time radio we listen to here by the border (weeesconsin & illinois-where we could have TWO successive Governors in jail at the same time)along with Vonsel and George and Gracie

You all are amazing...what memories.  Sure, I remember them after you say them.  Wasn't television interesting in those days.......you never knew what would happen live.

Sid and Immogene, too.

Sid and Imogene stand up well in memory....Gracie and George, not so much.  I think it was that "rubber" face of Imogene that could contort into the most amazing  expressions!  I have fond of memories of both duos.  The chiaroscuro of memory is vivid.....   

JM--Pressure?  What kind?  Gas?  Again, what kind?  I am decidely NOT a scientific mind ( a very brief acquaintance will make that very clear) so will not add much to any discussion...

Sometimes science can seem a rather dry subject, but it's not. So much of science is about math, which at first blush seems overly analytical and very black and white. Even the absence of "the gray areas," has it's beauty. (Life should be so easy.)

Imagine all the falling leaves of autumn for example... A leaf's path from a Maple tree to the ground, has a mathematical equation for it's curvy journey toward the ground. How beautiful that path is... and the colors of autumn... they've got an equation too. 

I have had enough alcohol to posit: has there ever been a narcissistic scientist that uttered. . . me equals emcee squared

Carol:  Robert Boyle's work was in measuring pressures and gasses...the article link, from Mr. Peterman?

Penn:  that's outstanding.  It's the most beautiful metaphor I've ever heard.  It almost makes me think a bit differently about the two subjects that almost done me in, at every turn, in my education.
 
But now I'll look at Forrest Gump's feather as a mathematical metaphor, rather than whatever lovely idea they meant to suggest,  and I'm not so sure I want to do that. J/J.
 
 
;)
 
You're a pretty smart lady, has anybody told you that lately?  If not, consider yourself told.