Robert Hooke

Born on 18 July 1635 in Freshwater, Isle of Wight, Robert Hooke was an English polymath, experimental scientist, and contemporary and rival of Isaac Newton. Hooke attended Westminster School in London and then Oxford University, where he became an assistant to chemist Robert Boyle. In 1662 Hooke was appointed curator of experiments for the newly formed Royal Society of London, to which he was later elected a fellow. In 1665 he became professor of geometry at Gresham College, London. Over the next four decades, Hooke performed research in a variety of fields, including architecture, astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, naval technology, and physics; he was also a prolific inventor and designer of scientific instruments, including the compound microscope and a new type of reflecting telescope. In his book Micrographia (1665), Hooke published a series of observations made with magnifying lenses. Among the highlights are his famous image of a flea and his coining of the term “cell” to describe the boxlike cells of cork (shown in the image), which reminded him of the cells in a monastery. He is perhaps best known to physicists, however, for Hooke’s law describing the proportional relationship between the extension of a spring and the force required. Hooke was extremely contentious and became involved in a number of disputes with his fellow scientists, most notably Newton. His reputation suffered, and after his death on 3 March 1703, he faded into obscurity.

Date in History: 18 July 1635