17th Century Wish-List

Here's an interesting insight into the mind of a 17th Century scientist Robert Boyle discoverer of "Boyle's Law" regarding the relationship between the temperature, pressure and volume of gases. It's a "wish-list" of scientific discovery put together by him showing, at least some of, the topics on his mind at the time (mid 1600s). It's amusing now to tick off the items on the list that we've since achieved, as you can see, this is most of them to one degree or another. Bearing in mind that progress is accelerating (especially since the advent of computers) if we made a list now I wonder how many problems would have been solved by science in another 300 years?

• The Prolongation of Life. [On average we all live twice as long today]
• The Recovery of Youth, or at least some of the Marks of it, as new Teeth, new Hair colour’d as in youth. [Plastic surgery, dentures, hair dye, Botox, transplants]
• The Art of Flying. [airplanes!]
• The Art of Continuing long under water, and exercising functions freely there. [scuba-gear]
• The Cure of Wounds at a Distance. [not exactly but we do have, MRI & ultra-sound]
• The Cure of Diseases at a distance or at least by Transplantation. [transplantation]
• The Attaining Gigantick Dimensions. [not quite, but we are all taller]
• The Emulating of Fish without Engines by Custome and Education only. [free-diving?]
• The Acceleration of the Production of things out of Seed. [genetic modification of plants]
• The Transmutation of Metalls. [Not quite, we have done it but it requires nuclear reactors]
• The makeing of Glass Malleable. [Plastic]
• The Transmutation of Species in Mineralls, Animals, and Vegetables. [genetic engineering]
• The Liquid Alkaest and Other dissolving Menstruums. [Universal solvents, almost]
• The making of Parabolicall and Hyperbolicall Glasses. [lenses]
• The making Armor light and extremely hard. [kevlar and aluminium]
• The practicable and certain way of finding Longitudes. [sat-nav]
• The use of Pendulums at Sea and in Journeys, and the Application of it to watches. [digital clocks]
• Potent Druggs to alter or Exalt Imagination, Waking, Memory, and other functions, and appease pain, procure innocent sleep, harmless dreams, etc. [LSD?]
• A Ship to saile with All Winds, and A Ship not to be Sunk. [yes, marine engines and no, not entirely]
• Freedom from Necessity of much Sleeping exemplify’d by the Operations of Tea and what happens in Mad-Men. [sort of, using certain drugs]
• Pleasing Dreams and physicall Exercises exemplify’d by the Egyptian Electuary and by the Fungus mentioned by the French Author. [drugs, again]
• Great Strength and Agility of Body exemplify’d by that of Frantick Epileptick and Hystericall persons. [we have machines that amplify our strength]
• A perpetuall Light. [light bulbs]
• Varnishes perfumable by Rubbing. [odd one, scratch & sniff?]