Robert Hooke (1635-1703)
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| Audience/Grade: | College Freshman-Continuing Education |
| Discipline(s): |
Engineering Mechanics General Engineering, Engineering Science History of Science and Technology Materials Engineering Mechanical Engineering |
| Special Topic(s): |
History of Technology |
| Learning Resource Type: |
Reference - Article/Document |
| Media Type: |
Unknown |
| Author(s): |
John Sayor |
| Description: | Biography of Robert Hooke as part of the Kinematics Models for Design digital library (KMODDL). Excerpt: "Robert Hooke was born on July 18, 1635. As a child he survived smallpox, but was scarred physically and emotionally for life. When Hooke was thirteen years old, he became an orphan and was sent off to London. He was lucky in London to meet the painter Sir Peter Lely, and with him Hooke developed his artistic skills. As a boy, Robert Hooke had shown also considerable interest and skill in mechanical things. This, along with Hooke's intelligence, did not escape the notice of Richard Busby, who saw great genius in Hooke, and got involved to the extent of taking the boy into his own home. In 1653 after graduating from Westminster School, Hooke moved to Oxford University, working his way through as a servant as had Newton in Cambridge. At Oxford, Hooke met physicist Robert Boyle, becoming his paid assistant. During his time with Boyle, their greatest accomplishment was the construction of the air pump. Hooke stayed with Boyle until 1662 when Boyle helped Hooke secure the job as Curator of Experiments for the Royal Society. No job could have suited Robert Hooke more and most other scientists less, than the job of Curator of Experiments. His task there was three to four major experiments each week to be reported on and/or demonstrated to the Royal Society. The experiments varied in topic greatly, some of chemical nature, some of astronomy, some of biology; all were considered Natural Philosophy. Hooke performed it excellently for forty one years until his death. In 1663, Hooke was elected a Fellow of the Society. In 1665, he was appointed Professor of Geometry at Gresham College. The same year he published his Micrographia, a book with elaborate drawings of various things under the microscope. Hooke had taken close observations of the comets of 1664 and 1665, as well as collecting data from other astronomers. In 1666, after the Great Fire of London, Hooke was appointed surveyor of London, designing many buildings including Montague House, the Royal College of Physicians, Bedlam and Bethlehem Hospital. In 1677, after Henry Oldenburg's death, Hooke succeeded him to the post of Secretary of the Royal Society while still maintaining his responsibilities as Curator. Hooke continued in this capacity until 1683 when the post of secretary was filled by Richard Waller who would eventually write Hooke's biography." |
| Rating: | No Rating |
| Related Resources | |
| Keywords: | History of technology |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | April 2008 |
| Platform/Format: |
WWW |
| Cost: |
Free |
| Download URL: | http://kmoddl.library.cornell.edu/biographies/Hooke/ |
| Metadata: |
IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
NEEDS
KMODDL
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