Abstract

In the last generation or so, the accepted canon of seventeenth-century philosophy has been increasingly subjected to challenge, and a powerful case has been made, by a variety of scholars, for the inclusion of figures such as Bacon, Gassendi, Malebranche, and Bayle. One might also make a case for the inclusion of Robert Boyle, not just because of his clear influence on Locke and Newton, or for his important contributions to natural philosophy, but because of the intrinsic interest and importance of his own writings on a wide variety of topics. Thanks to Michael Hunter, we now have both a new edition of Boyle's Works, and a new biography of the man, which is certain to supersede all previous studies.In this context, a new edition of the Excellency of Theology and the Excellency and Grounds of the Mechanical Hypothesis is sure to find a welcome from scholars and students alike. The former work is addressed to a group of virtuosi who, although still nominally Christians, have neglected the Book of God for the Book of Nature. Boyle seeks to persuade such men that they have an obligation to study the Scriptures and may reasonably hope to derive great profits from such studies