'Robert Hooke',
FRS (
July 18,
1635 –
March 3,
1703) was an
English polymath who played an important role in the
scientific revolution, through both experimental and theoretical work.
Early life
Robert Hooke was fascinated by the sciences, particularly
biology, from his early childhood. His father was
John Hooke, curate of the Church of
All Saints,
Freshwater. Like his three other brothers (all ministers), Robert was expected to succeed in his education and join his father's church. However, Hooke continually suffered from headaches whilst studying. His parents, fearing he would not reach adulthood, decided to give up on his education and leave him to his own devices.
Born in
Freshwater on the
Isle of Wight, Hooke received his early education on the Isle of Wight and, from about the age of 13, at
Westminster School under Dr. Busby. In
1653, Hooke secured a chorister's place at
Christ Church,
Oxford. There he met the chemist (and physicist)
Robert Boyle, and gained employment as his assistant. It is possible that Hooke formally stated
Boyle's Law, as Boyle was not a mathematician.
Career
In
1660, he discovered
Hooke's law of
elasticity, which describes the linear variation of
tension with extension in an
elastic spring. In
1662, Hooke gained appointment as Curator of Experiments to the newly founded
Royal Society, and took responsibility for experiments performed at its meetings.
In
1665 he published a book entitled ''
Micrographia'' which contained a number of
microscopic and
telescopic observations, and some original observations in
biology. Hooke coined the biological term ''
cell'', so called because his observations of plant cells reminded him of
monks' cells which were called "cellula." He is often credited with the discovery of the cell, although his microscope was very basic. Hooke's design was used by the Dutchman
Anton van Leeuwenhoek, described as the father of microbiology.
The hand-crafted, leather and gold-tooled microscope that Hooke used to make the observations for "Micrographia," originally made by Christopher Cock in London, is on display at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, DC. Also in 1665 he gained appointment as Professor of
Geometry at
Gresham College. Hooke also achieved fame as Surveyor to the City of London and chief assistant of
Christopher Wren, helping to rebuild London after the
Great Fire in
1666. He worked on designing the
Monument,
Royal Greenwich Observatory and the infamous
Bethlem Royal Hospital (which became known as 'Bedlam').
Death
He died in
London on
3 March 1703 (ns). He amassed a sizeable sum of money during his career in London, which was found in his room at Gresham College after his death. He never married.
No portrait
It seems that no authenticated portrait of him survives. Newton instigated the removal of Hooke's portrait in the Royal Society. In 2003, the historian
Lisa Jardine claimed a recently discovered portrait represents Robert Hooke. However, Prof. Jardine's hypothesis was soon disproved by Prof.
William Jensen (University of Cincinnati) and independently by the German researcher
Andreas Pechtl (Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz). Actually, the portrait depicts
Jan Baptist van Helmont. A seal used by Hooke displays an unusual profile portrait of a man's head, that some have argued portrays Hooke. Both these claims remain in dispute, however. Moreover, the engraved frontispiece to the 1728 edition of Chambers' Cyclopedia shows as an interesting detail a bust of Robert Hooke.
Hooke the architect
The church at Willen, Milton Keynes
Robert Hooke was an important architect. He was the official London Surveyor after the
Great Fire of 1666, surveying about half the plots in the city. As well as the
Bethlem Royal Hospital, other buildings designed by Hooke include: The
Royal College of Physicians (1679);
Ragley Hall in
Warwickshire; and the parish church at
Willen,
Milton Keynes (
historical Buckinghamshire).
Hooke's collaboration with
Christopher Wren was particularly fruitful and yielded The Royal Observatory at Greenwich,
The Monument (to the Great Fire) and
St Paul's Cathedral, whose dome uses a method of construction conceived by Hooke.
In the reconstruction after the Great Fire, Hooke proposed redesigning London's streets on a grid pattern with wide boulevards and arteries (a pattern subsequently used in the
renovation of Paris, Liverpool and many American cities), but was prevented by problems over property rights. Many property owners were surreptitiously shifting their boundaries and disputes were rife. (Hooke was in demand to use his competence as a surveyor and tact as an arbitrator to settle many of these disputes.) So London was rebuilt along the original mediaeval streets. It is interesting to note that much of the modern-day curse of congestion in London has its origin in these petty disputes of the
17th century.
Books
★ ''The Man Who Knew Too Much'', Stephen Inwood, Pan Books, 2002. ISBN 0-330-48829-5. (Published in the USA as ''The Forgotten Genius'')
★ ''Early Science in Oxford'' vol vii,
Dr. R. T. Gunther, ed., privately printed, 1923-67.
★ ''Robert Hooke'', Margaret 'Espinasse.
William Heinemann Ltd, 1956.
★ ''The Curious Life of Robert Hooke: The Man who Measured London'',
Lisa Jardine. Harper Collins Publishers, 2003. ISBN 0-00-714944-1.
★ ''London's
Leonardo: The Life and Work of Robert Hooke'',
Jim Bennett, Michael Cooper, Michael Hunter and
Lisa Jardine.
Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-19-852579-6.
★ ''England's Leonardo: Robert Hooke and the Seventeenth-century Scientific Revolution'',
Allan Chapman.
Institute of Physics Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0-7503-0987-3.
★ ''Robert Hooke and the English Renaissance'',
Allan Chapman and Paul Kent (editors). Gracewing, 2005. ISBN 0-85244-587-3.
★ Hooke, Robert (1635-1703).
''Micrographia: or some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses with observations and inquiries thereupon...''
Commemorations
Two
craters, on the
Moon and
Mars were named in his honour.
See also
★
List of astronomical instrument makers
★
The Boyle-Hooke plaque in
Oxford
References
External links
★
Website dedicated to Hooke, hosted by
Westminster School
★
★
Hooke Timeline
★ ''
England's Leonardo'' lecture on Robert Hooke
★
Engraved bust of Robert Hooke
★
Robert Boyle and Robert Hooke
★
Lost manuscript of Robert Hooke discovered — from
The Guardian
★ ''
Exploring our archives'', a blog by researchers at the
Royal Society exploring Hooke's lost manuscript
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