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In ancient times, the elements of the universe were thought to be earth, air, fire, and water as proclaimed by Empedocles (5th Century BCE). This was followed by the pre-Socratic philosophers such as Anaximenes, who thought that the archê (fundamental substance or first principle) was air; Heraclitus though it was fire. Thereafter and throughout history, gases played and important role from alchemy to elixirs, all based on less than scientific evidence. Finally, Boyle came along in the 17th century and presented the first real scientific approach to gases.

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