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	'''Robert Hooke''', ] (], ] – ], ]) was an ] ] who played an important role in the ], through both experimental and theoretical work.

	==Early life==
	Robert Hooke was fascinated by the sciences, particularly ], from his early childhood. His father was ], curate of the ], ]. 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 ] on the ], Hooke received his early education on the Isle of Wight and, from about the age of 13, at ] under Dr. Busby. In ], Hooke secured a chorister's place at ], ]. There he met the chemist (and physicist) ], and gained employment as his assistant. It is possible that Hooke formally stated ], as Boyle was not a mathematician.

	==Career==
	In ], he discovered ] of ], which describes the linear variation of ] with extension in an ] spring. In ], Hooke gained appointment as Curator of Experiments to the newly founded ], and took responsibility for experiments performed at its meetings.

	In ] he published a book entitled '']'' which contained a number of ] and ] observations, and some original observations in ]. Hooke coined the biological term '']'', so called because his observations of plant cells reminded him of ]s' cells which were called "]." He is often credited with the discovery of the cell, although his microscope was very basic. Hooke's design was utilized by the Dutchman ], 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	The hand-crafted, leather and gold-tooled microscope that Hooke used to make the observations for "Micrographia," originally made by Christopher Cock in London, is on display at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, DC.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 ] at ]. Hooke also achieved fame as Surveyor to the City of London and chief assistant of ], helping to rebuild London after the ] in ]. He worked on designing the ], ] and the infamous ] (which became known as 'Bedlam').

	==Death==
	]]]
	He died in ] 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 ] claimed a recently discovered portrait represents Robert Hooke. However, Prof. Jardine's hypothesis was soon disproved by Prof. ] (University of Cincinnati) and independently by the German researcher ] (Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz). Actually, the portrait depicts ]. 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 ==
	]
	Robert Hooke was an important architect. He was the official London Surveyor after the ], surveying about half the plots in the city. As well as the ], other buildings designed by Hooke include: The ] (1679); ] in ]; and the parish church at ], ] (]).

	Hooke's collaboration with ] was particularly fruitful and yielded The Royal Observatory at Greenwich, ] (to the Great Fire) and ], 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 along the lines of the ], (this pattern was subsequently used for 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 ].

	== 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, ], ed., privately printed, 1923-67.
	* ''Robert Hooke'', Margaret 'Espinasse. ], 1956.
	* ''The Curious Life of Robert Hooke: The Man who Measured London'', ]. Harper Collins Publishers, 2003. ISBN 0-00-714944-1.
	* ''London's ]: The Life and Work of Robert Hooke'', ], Michael Cooper, Michael Hunter and ]. ], 2003. ISBN 0-19-852579-6.
	* ''England's Leonardo: Robert Hooke and the Seventeenth-century Scientific Revolution'', ]. ] Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0-7503-0987-3.
	* ''Robert Hooke and the English Renaissance'', ] and Paul Kent (editors). Gracewing, 2005. ISBN 0-85244-587-3.
	* Hooke, Robert (1635-1703).

	==Commemorations==
	The ]s on the ] and ] were named in his honor.

	==See also==
	*]
	*] in ]

	==References==
	{{reflist}}

	== External links ==
	{{commons\|Robert Hooke\|Robert Hooke}}
	*, hosted by ]
	*{{gutenberg author\| id=Robert+Hooke \| name=Robert Hooke}}
	*
	* '''' lecture on Robert Hooke
	* of Robert Hooke
	*
	* — from ]
	*'''', a blog by researchers at the ] exploring Hooke's lost manuscript

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Revision as of 03:58, 20 July 2007

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