Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke was one of the most important natural philosophers of the 1600s. He as born in 1635 and died in 1703, but in this time he made many contributions to various different fields of science. He was not a founding member of the Royal Society, but he was admitted to join only two years after the society was created, in 1662. He worked under Robert Boyle, and together from 1655 to 1659, they created the Boylean Air Pump, which led to major advancements in the understanding of physics and chemistry. Observations from the pump led to Boyle discovering the concept of the vacuum and air pressure, while Hooke would go on to develop a theory on elasticity, which explains how the stretching of a material is “proportional to the force applied to it”. This was the groundwork for further studies on stress and strain, and helped develop a further understanding for “elastic materials”.
Hooke was also interested in the field of astronomy, where he made observations on the rotation of Jupiter, Mars, and the movement of the Earth and the Moon. He built his own telescope in order to study the heavens, but he also applied his knowledge in astronomy to another scientific field, where he made discoveries that made him famous. He was the first person to use the term “cell” to refer to what he saw when looking at plant matter under a microscope, and this term has remained to the present day. His continued study of microorganisms led to observations of prehistoric fossils, which laid the groundwork for future theories of evolution by later scientists.
Flea drawing
Hooke published his book Micrographia in 1665, which contained his findings in the field of microbiology, including his discovery of cells, the crystalline structure of snowflakes, and how creatures such as fleas feed. While these discoveries were not necessarily groundbreaking on their own, they were crucial for further developments in the field. Hooke’s findings allowed for other natural philosophers to build their own theories in the field of microbiology, such as the Dutch scientist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, who would go on to discover living microorganisms, which was a major discovery at the time.
Fascinating blog, I really like the history of science. Did you know that earlier in the Stuart era William Harvey discovered how the blood circulates through the body? I wonder what kind of experiments he did to figure that out! Do you think the creation of a society led to further innovation or was it just an arena for conflict? Or were the "fierce public debates" an incentive to discover more?
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of talk about "standing on the shoulders of giants", and we tend to think of the big names when we think of those "giants". It was really men like Hooke (in Stuart Era England, anyway) who built up the foundation of modern science through collaboration and non-groundbreaking grunt work on top of their own discoveries (we still learn about Hooke's Law in physics classes).
ReplyDeleteFascinating that he had such a public rivalry with Newton, I'd never heard of that. Can only imagine how intense those debates got!
This is a very interesting post. It seems that Hooke laid important groundwork for many further discoveries. He must have been quite a formidable intellect and personality, given that Newton delayed publications until after his death. It is also fascinating that so many eminent scientists of the early modern period conducted research in multiple disciplines, much like Hooke, who contributed to astronomy, physics, and biology. Is there any significant evidence that Newton plagiarized from Hooke?
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