112 - Boyle (Robert) Tracts... The Cosmicall Qualities of things..., H8 half-title to verso, [ESTC R3181; Fulton 83; Madan III 2883; Wing B4057], Oxford, W.H. for Ric. Davis, 1671 bound with Tracts Consisting of Observations About the Saltness of the Sea, with first blank, [ESTC R17503; Fulton 113; Madan III 3005; Wing B4053], by E. Flesher for R. Davis, 1674, together 2 works in 1 vol., light water-stain at foot, foxing, ink-stamp and ink inscription to front free endpaper, contemporary calf expertly and sympathetically rebacked and recornered, 8vo.

Boyle (Robert) Tracts... The Cosmicall Qualities of things..., H8 half-title to verso, [ESTC R3181; Fulton 83; Madan III 2883; Wing B4057], Oxford, W.H. for Ric. Davis, 1671 bound with Tracts Consisting of Observations About the Saltness of the Sea, with first blank, [ESTC R17503; Fulton 113; Madan III 3005; Wing B4053], by E. Flesher for R. Davis, 1674, together 2 works in 1 vol., light water-stain at foot, foxing, ink-stamp and ink inscription to front free endpaper, contemporary calf expertly and sympathetically rebacked and recornered, 8vo. *** A rare sammelband containing two collections of tracts by the natural philosopher and founding fellow of The Royal Society. Across these essays, Boyle covers important milestones in the development of natural science, from observations on astronomy to the description of experiments on the problem of rendering seawater fit for human consumption. Boyle's account of 'local motion' in his essay on Cosmicall Qualities made important advances in his corpuscular theory of matter, reaffirming the break he first made with classical Aristotelian notions of the four elements in the Sceptical chymist.