His early life
Robert Hooke was born on July 18th, 1635 in Freshwater, Isle of Wight, England. His father, John Hooke, was a clergyman. As a child Hooke became ill of smallpox, of which he survived from, only to be disfigured and scarred. Throughout his childhood, Robert never really received much of any regular schooling due to his sickness and weakness. On the other hand he had an amazing natural curiosity, which led to the development of his mind through self-learning. When Robert was merely thirteen years old his father committed suicide by hanging himself. All that was left behind for Robert was 40 pounds. After his father died, Hooke was sent to London as an orphan, where he studied under Peter Lely, an artist of the time. He soon realized that he should spend his inheritance attending Westminster School, where he lodged with Dr. Richard Rusby. Robert had a large interest in mechanical objects and was encouraged greatly by Dr. Busby. Within the first week of being with Dr. Busby, Hooke was able to work through many books of Euclid's geometry. He was soon allowed unsupervised access to Dr. Busby's library. When Robert was eighteen he moved on and attended Oxford, where he soon after obtained his masters degree. Once he secured the sponsorship and guidance of John Wilkins, the warden of Wadham College, he was well on his way to become one of the greatest inventors, microscopists, physicists, surveyors, astronomers, biologists, artists.
Adult hood
During Robert Hooke's study at Oxford, he was among many great figures, such as; Thomas Willis, Seth Ward, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, John Wallis, Christopher Wren and William Petty. Because he was among some of the greatest English scientists of the day he acquired skills in a wid...
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...son to conceptualize the theory of gravity and its inverse-square effect.Argued that light was in fact waves and not particles. Isaac Newton believed light was made up of particles. Discovered a new planet, Uranus, (reported on 22nd January 1673)... 100 years before it was accidentally re-discovered in 1781. Discovered that sound could travel along a wire and around corners.Hooke discovered and proved that the comet seen in 1665 was the same one seen in 1618, Haley's comet. Designed the first equatorial quadrant which aided astronomical observations. First to observe and record the existence of sun spots. Proposed the first concepts of evolution in rudimentary form. Hooke was Britain's first professional experimental scientist.Invented the first western-world arithmetic machine. Invented an air gun.
Over all He was a great guy who helped shape what science is today.
Wolf, A. A History of Science, Technology and Philosophy in the 16th and 17th Centuries. Vol. 2. New York: Harper, 1959.
“If I have seen further that others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” -Sir Isaac Newton. Sir Isaac Newton and Robert Hooke were by far the most brilliant scientist of their day. They individually and collectively made huge contributions to the science of their day. Sir Isaac Newton was Without the work of Sir Isaac Newton and Robert Hooke, the world of science would be no where near where it is today.
“Harrison Bergeron” a short story by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., takes place in a totalitarian society where everyone is equal. A man who tries to play the savior, but ultimately fails in his endeavors to change the world. Vonnegut short story showed political views on communism, which is that total equality is not good (and that equity might be better).
John Locke was born on August 29, 1632 in Wrington, England as a son of a lawyer and a small landowner. Although he was born into a time of political turbulence, he received a great deal of education while growing up (“John Locke”). At the age of 14, he entered into one of Britain’s most prominent independent school, known as The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster. Consequently, in 1652 he was accepted into Christ Church, Oxford which led to him being elected to a senior studentship in 1659 (“John Locke”). As Locke tutored at the college for several years, he sparked an interest in experimental science. Evidently, he was nominated as a mem...
Antoni and Hook were known for the development of the microscope. Before Antoni improved the microscope, the microscope could only magnify objects 20 or 30 times their natural size. Antoni, a Dutch lens-maker, learned to grind a lens that magnified over 200 times. One of Antoni’s inspirations came from a publication by Robert Hooke’s book Micrographia. In this book the term cell was used to describe the basic unit of a structure in plants and animal life. Hooker wrote about his observations through various lenses. Newton was the most important figure in the scientific revolution because of his book the Principia. In this publication Newton describes the universe and its guidelines. In this he created the universal law of gravity and its mathematical equation. He demonstrates that every object exerts an attraction to a greater or lesser degree on all objects. The Principia led to the creation of the Royal Society in
With contributions to physics, physiology, ophthalmology, psychology, and philosophy, Adelbert Ames Jr. is a scientist of great distinction. However, when his family background is looked at, it is not difficult to see how he came to achievement so much. He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1880. His father, whom he is named after, was a man of distinction. He was a general in the Union army during the Civil War and later became Governor and a Senator during the Reconstruction Era. He also gained several patents for pencil sharpeners and other mechanical objects. His mother, Blanche Butler Ames, was the daughter of a controversial military leader, politician, and unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. presidency. Ames’ sister was a women’s rights suffragist and his brother was an Army officer and politician. Even Ames’ son, Adelbert Ames III went on to be a professor at Harvard University.
John Locke was born in 1632 at Wrington, Somersetshire, England. He studied philosophy and the natural sciences at Oxford, and received his doctorate in medicine. Having entered into the graces of Lord Ashley, who later became the Earl of Shaftesbury, Locke held several political offices. Thus he had the opportunity to visit France, where he made the acquaintance of the most representative men of cultur...
With the Scientific Revolution in full swing, Sir Isaac Newton became very interested in advanced science and philosophy. In fact, he...
Wolf, A. A History of Science, Technology and Philosophy in the 16th and 17th Centuries. Vol. 2. New York: Harper, 1959.
William Harvey was born on April 1, 1578, in Folkestone, England. At the age of sixteen, Harvey enrolled in Gonville and Caius College in Cambridge where he obtained a bachelor's degree in 1597. He went on to study medicine under Hieronymus Fabricius at the University of Padua in Italy. Fabricius was involved in the study of blood flow in the body, which motivated Harvey to research this branch as well. After moving to England, William Harvey was appointed as a personal physician to King Charles (Britannica). Within his study of blood, Harvey was able to form the theory of the circulation of blood through the body, which he published in ‘On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals', in 1628. The book brought Harvey fame and made him a respected name in science. During his experiments, William Harvey became skeptical of pr...
Perhaps the most famous discovery is that the Earth revolves around the Sun and the Earth is not the center of the universe (even though he was discredited at the time). Newton was also involved with telescopes. After his growing interest with light bending, he applied his knowledge of the reflecting and refracting properties of light and invented the first reflective telescopes. Newton's reflective telescopes vastly improve the clarity of images as well as escaping chromatic abberation. In order to fully understand the concepts and ideas of how telescopes work, some knowledge of simple optics is required.
Wolf, Abraham. History of Science, Technology, and Philosophy in the Eighteenth Century. New York: MacMillan Press, 1968. Web. 5 June 2012.
5. Burns, William E. Science in the Enlightenment: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2003. Print.
He conducted experiments on sunlight and prisms. He discovered that sunlight was made up of different colors. This lead to his work on reflecting telescopes. At the same time he was working out his ideas of planetary motion. He returned to Cambridge in 1667 and became the a fellow, earned his MA and the following year became the chair of the math department. he then wrote a book on optics. Newton worked cooperatively wiht other scientists such as Robert Hookeand Edmund Halley on planetary motion. But he was later bitter and resentfull not wanting to give other any credit for their contributions to his work. Newton went on to serve in government positions such as a member of Parliament and later as Warden of the Mint. His only words spoken as a member of parliament were "shut the window." He had a mental breakdown of sorts resulting in thoughts of persecutiojn mania later in life.
Newton, Isaac. The Correspondence of Isaac Newton. Vol. 7, 1718-1727. Edited by A. Rupert Hall and Laura Tilling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press for the Royal Society, 1977.