Robert Boyle's 17th century wishlist for future scientific breakthroughs

In 2010, The Royal Society featured the "Desiderata" (previously) of Robert "Boyle's Law" Boyle, a list of dozens of scientific discoverie and breakthroughs that Boyle hoped would be discovered by scientists.

*The Prolongation of Life.

*The Recovery of Youth, or at least some of the Marks of it, as new Teeth, new Hair colourd as in youth.

*The Art of Flying.

*The Art of Continuing long under water, and exercising functions freely there.

*The Cure of Wounds at a Distance.

*The Cure of Diseases at a distance or at least by Transplantation.

*The Attaining Gigantick Dimensions.

*The Emulating of Fish without Engines by Custome and Education only.

*The Acceleration of the Production of things out of Seed.

*The Transmutation of Metalls.

*The makeing of Glass Malleable.

*The Transmutation of Species in Mineralls, Animals, and Vegetables.

*The Liquid Alkaest and Other dissolving Menstruums.

*The making of Parabolicall and Hyperbolicall Glasses.

*The making Armor light and extremely hard.

*The practicable and certain way of finding Longitudes.

*The use of Pendulums at Sea and in Journeys, and the Application of it to watches.

*Potent Druggs to alter or Exalt Imagination, Waking, Memory, and other functions, and appease pain, procure innocent sleep, harmless dreams, etc.

*A Ship to saile with All Winds, and A Ship not to be Sunk.

*Freedom from Necessity of much Sleeping exemplifyd by the Operations of Tea and what happens in Mad-Men.

*Pleasing Dreams and physicall Exercises exemplifyd by the Egyptian Electuary and by the Fungus mentioned by the French Author.

*Great Strength and Agility of Body exemplifyd by that of Frantick Epileptick and Hystericall persons.

*A perpetuall Light.

*Varnishes perfumable by Rubbing.

What scientists want: Robert Boyles to-do list [The Repository/Royal Society Archives]

(via Beyond the Beyond)