When and where was Robert Hooke born?
Robert Hooke was born on the 18th of July 1635 in Freshwater, Isle of Wight. His father John Hooke served as a curate at All Saints' Church while his mother Cecily Gyles raised four children.
Questions about Robert Hooke
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What role did Robert Hooke hold at the Royal Society starting in 1664?
Robert Hooke was appointed curator to furnish experiments for the Royal Society on the 27th of June 1664. He received an annual salary of £80 consisting of £30 from the Society and Cutler's £50 annuity to support this role.
Why is Robert Hooke famous for publishing Micrographia in 1665?
Robert Hooke published Micrographia in 1665 containing observations made with microscopes and telescopes that described the earliest recorded observation of a microorganism known as Mucor. He coined the term cell suggesting a resemblance between plant structures and honeycomb cells using a handcrafted leather-and-gold-tooled microscope designed by him and built by Christopher Cock.
How did Robert Hooke contribute to rebuilding London after the Great Fire of 1666?
Robert Hooke served as Surveyor to the City of London and chief assistant to Christopher Wren following the Great Fire of 1666. He helped map the fire-damaged area within four weeks starting from the 4th of October 1666 and compiled a Land Information System for London while drawing up building regulations for an Act of Parliament.
What was the nature of the dispute between Robert Hooke and Isaac Newton regarding planetary motion?
Robert Hooke initiated a notable exchange of letters with Isaac Newton in November 1679 regarding planetary motion where he communicated his supposition that attraction is always in a duplicate proportion to distance from the center. By May 1686 Newton was presented with Hooke's claim to priority on the inverse square law but denied he was credited as author of the idea despite acknowledging Wren Hooke and Halley in his Scholium to Proposition 4.