Mr Hooke - the hidden face of genius
The Royal Society, Library and Information Services.
Robert Hooke (1635-1703) has been described as the
British Leonardo and the world's first professional
scientist. His name is linked to a range of disciplines
that today would be represented by an entire
university science faculty. It is hard to look around a
room or travel down a London street without seeing or
using something whose design owes much to his
research. Bed springs, the universal joint (used in
cars), sash windows, cameras, watches, and even the
street layout of London all bear the mark of his
genius.
Hooke's ability to apply his enquiring mind to
such a diverse range of disciplines and problems
is today seen as an achievement. But when he
was alive, his tendency to explore a bit of
everything (and, some would say, complete
very little) irritated many of his more specialised
contemporaries, even though they were often to
benefit from his work. The hostility between
Hooke and Isaac Newton is legendary, and may
well have contributed to the subsequent lack of
recognition for his work.
Hooke drew
this ant under
the microscope
Hooke's Law illustrated
Hooke's achievements can be appreciated by following his
involvement with the Royal Society, where he served as Original
Fellow (elected in 1663), first Curator of Experiments (1662-1688),
Secretary (1677-1682) and Council member (five separate spells).
This association means the Society's archives are rich in Hooke's
material, and this exhibition marks the tercentenary of his death
with a display of his publications, original manuscripts showing his
scientific discoveries, and one of his many "to do" lists.
The post of Curator of Experiments represented the first
professional job for a scientist, and it was here that Hooke really
made his mark. Working at a time when science was moving from
"a work of the brain and fancy" to the investigation of material
things, he was expected to devise and perform his own experiments
to Fellows, as well as to design equipment and tests for ideas
recommended by the Society.
Hooke published a number of papers and documents detailing the
investigations he undertook for the Society. His masterpiece, the
first scientific discourse on microscopy, Micrographia, came out in
1665, and is on display in the exhibition. Samuel Pepys records in
his diary:
Before I went to bed, I sat up till 2 a-clock in my chamber, reading
of Mr. Hooke’s Microscopicall Observacions, the most ingenious
book that ever I read in my life. (21 January 1665).
Micrographia was remarkable in many ways. It covered 60 topics
including plants, animals and insects, silk and flax, hair, feathers
and scales. Intricate diagrams and exquisite drawings were
accompanied by a lively commentary. The text was in English
rather than Latin, which made it accessible to many more people.
Furthermore the page on the structure of cork includes Hooke's
realisation that products found in nature are made up of small units,
which he describes as cells - the first use of the word in this
context.
It is ironic that no portrait of Hooke survives, given the prominent
role he played in the founding of British science, and the number of
paintings that we have of many of his contemporaries. We know
that there was a portrait, but it mysteriously disappeared along with
many of Hooke's papers and instruments at around the time the
Society moved from its first home at Gresham College in 1710. It is
perhaps no coincidence that Newton was President at the time!
Detailed written descriptions of Hooke, however, have survived, and
these give us a good idea of what he looked like, including his 'head
of haire' being 'of an excellent moist curle'. Portraits developed
from these descriptions by artists from the Royal College of Art and
the London College of Printing are on display in the Exhibition.