|
Robert Hooke (July 18, 1635 -
March 3, 1703) was one of the greatest
experimental scientists of the seventeenth century, and hence one of the key figures in the Scientific revolution.
Born in Freshwater, on the Isle of Wight, Hooke received his early education at Westminster School. In 1653, Hooke won a place at Oxford. There, he met Robert Boyle, and was
employed as his assistant. 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 was
appointed Curator of Experiments to the newly founded Royal Society, and
was responsible 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 biology. Indeed, the biological term cell is attributed to Hooke. Also in 1665, he was appointed Professor of
Geometry at Gresham College.
Robert Hooke also achieved fame as the chief assistant of Christopher Wren helping to rebuild after the Great Fire of London in 1666. He worked on the Royal Greenwich Observatory, and the infamous
Bethlehem Hospital,
Bedlam.
He died in London.
Achievements
In addition to Micrographia and Hooke's Law, Hooke invented the anchor escapement and may also
have invented the balance
spring before Christiaan Huygens. An escapement is a device
for regulating the rate of a watch or clock, and the anchor escapement was a major step in accurate watch design. The balance
spring is also used to regulate the flow of energy from the mainspring. It coils and uncoils with a natural periodicity, allowing
for fine adjustment of the period of ticks. Modern spring watches still use balance springs, and the most common escapement today
is the double roller Swiss anchor escapement, which is a nineteenth-century modification of
Hooke's design.
Hooke is also often credited with inventing the compound
microscope, a design consisting of multiple lenses (usually three - an eyepiece, a field lens and an objective). While he did
give much advice on new microscope designs to the instrument maker Christopher Cock, this attribution appears to be incorrect, since the compound
microscope had already been created by Zacharias Janssen in
1590
His other significant achievements include the invention of the universal joint, this attribution is also incorrect as the universal joint was invented by Cardano, an
Italian mathematician who died in 1576, the construction of the first Gregorian reflecting telescope, and the discovery of the first binary star.
Hooke and Newton
There was lots of mutual dislike between Hooke and Isaac Newton. It all
started in 1672 when Hooke criticized Newton's presentation showing that prisms split white light rather than modifying it.
Newton was furious that the hunchback Hooke was unable to grasp his ground-breaking discovery, and threatened to leave the
Royal Society. In 1684, Newton failed to recognize Hooke's contribution
to his Principia. The mutual dislike lasted till the end of Hooke's life.
External links
|