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 colour’d 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 exemplify’d by the Operations of Tea and what happens in Mad-Men.
* Pleasing Dreams and physicall Exercises exemplify’d by the Egyptian Electuary and by the Fungus mentioned by the French Author.
* Great Strength and Agility of Body exemplify’d by that of Frantick Epileptick and Hystericall persons.
* A perpetuall Light.
* Varnishes perfumable by Rubbing.
What scientists want: Robert Boyle’s to-do list [The Repository/Royal Society Archives]
(via Beyond the Beyond)
