In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophical study of nature called natural philosophy, a precursor of natural science.^[3] It was not until the 19th century that the term scientistcame into regular use after it was coined by the theologian, philosopher, and historian of science William Whewell in 1833.^[4][5]The term 'scientist' was first coined by him for Mary Somerville, partly because the term "man of science", more custom at that time, was clearly inappropriate here

The Baconian method marked the beginning of the end for the 2,000-year-old natural philosophy of Aristotle, unleashing a wave of new scientific discoveries, particularly in the hands of devotees such as Robert Boyle

He discovered Boyle’s Law – the first of the gas laws – relating the pressure of a gas to its volume; he established that electrical forces are transmitted through a vacuum, but sound is not; and he also stated that the movement of particles is responsible for heat. He was the first person to write specific experimental guidance for other scientists, telling them the importance of achieving reliable, repeatable results.