What Robert Boyle (1627-1691) gave in his Sceptical Chymist (1661) is not, as is commonly said, a modern definition of a chemical element, but a traditional definition of a chemical element.

• 波义耳在《怀疑派化学家》(1661年)一书中并没有象人们通常所说的那样给化学元素下了科学的定义,而是给出了当时人们所理解的传统元素定义。