Worst Enemy, Best Friend- Invention 2/4

     Fire is helpful and hurtful at the same time. It can destroy homes and forests in a matter of minutes, but without it, we can't have heat in the winter, and we couldn't have fun family campfires in the summer. Fire is in our lives nearly every day. And one step to having fire more handy than banging rocks together is the invention of the match.
     The match was invented in 1680 by Robert Boyle. One day, he found out that when you rub phosphorus and sulfur together, it would burst into flame. Keep in mind that these were a very primitive form and sometimes would burst into flames when they were accidentally rubbed in a pocket. It was modified over the years into the match we rarely see anymore, due to the invention of the lighter. Here are some more facts about Robert Boyle:

• He is most famous for Boyle's Law, which is a physical law that explains how the pressure and volume of different gases are related to each other.
• He was the 7th son of the Earl of Cork. Earl of Cork was one of richest men in the world. He was worried his kids would be too spoiled. He thought it would help if he sent his kids to live in poor families. From a half year old to 4 years old, he lived with a peasant family.
• He was born on January 25th, 1627 in Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland. He died on December 31st, 1691
  at age 64 in London, England.
• Robert Hooke was his assitant type guy, who made the Hooke's Law of elasticity, modified and designed telescopes, and had a quarrels with Isaac Newton over little things here and there, such as gravity.
• He studied physics and chemistry.

     In conclusion, his invention may not be used often today, but it helped us modify it and learn more about sparking flames, which led to the invention of the lighter. Who knows where we would be without the invention of the match? The lighter is used a lot today, and without his knowledge and discoveries in science then, we wouldn't be very far.