The purpose of this study is to examine how English natural philosophers of the seventeenth century—in particular, Robert Boyle (1627-1691) considered and assessed the personal traits of skill and experience and the significance of these characteristics to the practice of seventeenth-century science. Boyle's writings reveal that skill and experience impacted various aspects of his seventeenth-century experimental natural philosophy, including the credibility assessment of tradesmen and eyewitnesses to natural phenomena, the contingencies involved in the making of experiments, and Boyle's statements about the requisite skills of experimental philosophy in contrast to other traditions. Subtopics explored include the popularization of science and Boyle's expectations concerning the future improvement of natural philosophy.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T14:16:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Verine Stochi Veiga.pdf: 1890973 bytes, checksum: 96ba7db6b11531ce422820295da1d082 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-17 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / In the 17th century, museums became spaces that reflected the new scientific ideas, particularly the ones of Lord Bacon and his 'Solomon's House'. As a result, not only collections of curiosities and antiques, but also libraries, laboratories, gardens and classrooms became a part of such new spaces devoted to the arts, techniques and science. One illustrative example is the Ashmolean Museum, which was created in Oxford University in 1683 based on the plans and collections of Elias Ashmole, an antiquarian and Fellow of the Royal Society. The present study sought to demonstrate that the connection of Ashmole to the contemporary English science played a major role in the creation of the Ashmolean Museum / No século XVII, os museus foram transformados em espaços que refletiam as novas ideias da ciência, especialmente as de Lord Bacon e sua Casa de Salomão . Dessa forma, não só coleções de raridades e antiguidades, mas bibliotecas, laboratório, jardins e salas de aula passaram a fazer parte desses novos espaços dedicados à arte, à técnica e à ciência. Um exemplo disso seria o Museu Ashmoleano, fundado em 1683, na Universidade de Oxford, a partir dos planos e coleções do antiquarista e membro da Royal Society de Londres, Elias Ashmole. Nesta dissertação, pretende-se demonstrar que os vínculos de Elias Ashmole com a ciência inglesa do período tiveram um papel fundamental para a constituição do Museu Ashmoleano