Who was Robert Hooke?
This unique character was born in England in July 1635. Of the four brothers, he was the last. Robert's parents were very religious, his father, John Hooke, was the parish priest of the town church where the family lived.
Robert Hooke's father, in addition to his responsibilities to the church, also taught at the local school. This was very helpful in Robert's education, as he was often sick as a child, forcing him to stay home.
Robert's relatives had pinned their hopes that Robert would turn to ecclesiastical activities. For this reason, he was raised with those expectations.
His childhood was not pleasant at all, he lived a large part of his childhood alone, due to the fact of living sick and forced to be at home, without having contact with other children of the same age.
The loss of a loved one and the journey
Although his childhood was spent within four walls and plagued by illnesses, this circumstance also helped him develop his inventive talent. He was able to build sundials, windmills, replica ships, and various toys.
Self-taught in the plastic arts, to the point of making his own tools and preparations for painting. When his father observed the skills he had, he came to think that he would become a watchmaker craftsman.
When Robert was thirteen years old, he loses his father in an event, something murky and leaves the family very shaken, alone and in total ruin.
With the desire to help his family and especially his beloved mother, he undertakes the trip to London. She intended to demonstrate his artistic abilities and thereby earn some money.
Once established in the great metropolis, he began his studies at the Westminster School in London. He was immediately passionate about mathematics, especially geometry and the different Branches of physics. Noted for his command of Latin, Hebrew and Greek.
Hooke's social and work life
He tried that his youth was not marked by loneliness, which he had to live in his childhood. For this reason, he was part of the choir of the Oxford Cathedral Church, this because of the friendships that he kept during his stay at Westminster School.
He had a special interest in safeguarding his research, paintings and other things, since he knew what the state could do with these creations. Many studies and investigations disappeared during the reign of Charles of England.
He attended countless scientific, intellectual and philosophical meetings, where he made public his opinions and interest in future research. The meetings took place in the residence of the physicist Maurice Wilkins.
Biography of Robert Hooke and his Jobs
Since he did not have wealth, he had to work to support himself and pay for his studies. While the rest of the class went out to enjoy the pleasures of life, Robert had to work hard.
Robert Hooke was able to learn how to dissect thanks to his job as a chemical anatomy assistant. He had the honor of becoming Robert Boyle's lab assistant.
He was a geometry teacher at Gresham College, with pay and a place to sleep within the same college premises. He also served as the official surveyor of London, before joining the Royal Society.
Passage through the Royal Society of London
Thanks to the recommendations of his former employers and of course, to his willingness to learn and the knowledge acquired, he was recommended to occupy the position of head of experiments at the Royal Society of London.
The profile for that position required him to be a person knowledgeable in the world of scientific research. In addition to being a full-fledged professional and exclusive dedication to the project.
History of his discoveries
During his internship as an apprentice to scientist Robert Boyle, he was given a mission by him. This was the construction of a vacuum pump, this is one of the many Contributions by Robert Hooke, left to humanity and arises from an experiment related to gases.
As well as the previous example, Hooke marked a milestone in the scientific research of the 17th and 18th centuries. And all his inventions are collected in the different biography of Robert Hooke.
- Hooke's law
This Law is also known as the Law of Elasticity. It was one of the most revolutionary discoveries of this scientist. This specifies the variation that a spring undergoes, when exerting a tension on it.
Hooke asserted that if the spring suffered a deformation, it was in the presence of the limit of its elasticity. This invention is the basis for the design and construction of dynamometers.
- Cells
Another of the Robert Hooke's contributionsIn this case to biology, was the discovery of cells. To carry out his investigations, he used the help of the microscope, analyzing a cork sheet under his lens.
His impression was enormous, noticing that the sheet he was analyzing had structures with a geometric shape, very similar to the hive of a honeycomb. He called these small structures cells.
What Hooke postulated, years later, was endorsed by the biologist Marcelo Malpighi, when he observed cells, but this time from living tissues, also under the lens of a microscope.
- Cell theory
Already having knowledge of cellular structures, in the biography of Robert Hooke it is noted that in the 19th century, the cell theory was established under the following statements:
- Cells are present in all living things.
- Each cell is a unit, with its own structure and fulfills a function.
- In every cell structure, there is the ability to multiply as an exact replica of the parent cell.
- Discovery of the planet Uranus
In the person of Robert Hooke, falls the responsibility of having discovered the planet Uranus. They were years of observing space and the StarsBrilliant ideas such as gravitation arose from these observations of the cosmos.
Much of the instruments used by Hooke for his observations, he had to build himself. With them he was able to measure the path of the Sun and the movements of the stars.
- Theory of planetary motion
Thanks to the genius of this remarkable scientist, the reason for the movements of the planets is now known. All this from an investigation referred to the mechanics.
With this theory he postulated the law of universal attraction. In which he states that every body in space travels in a straight line. As long as its trajectory is not modified by a greater force.
He also expressed that the bodies have in their center a force of gravity and that thanks to this, the rest of the planets and other celestial bodies are affected the closer they are.
More of Hooke's story
The scope of Robert Hooke's genius went beyond the natural sciences. This character was the designer of the Royal Psychiatric Hospital of Bethlem, also of the Church in the parish of Willen, among other buildings.
This foray into architecture was prompted by the fire that occurred in London, which left all of its historic sites and many homes in ruins. Nearly 14 buildings were burned to the ground, and this emergency required the participation of all its citizens.
Although Robert Hooke delivered many design projects for the reconstruction of the city, many of them were never carried out. It was included in his sketches, reforms of the old areas of the city, to modernize them.
Among the historical sites of interest that Hooke participated in, are:
- The Greenwich Observatory.
- San Pablo's cathedral.
- Royal College of Physicians.
- Church of Santa Maria de Magdalena.
- Micrograph
It's a masterpiece by Robert Hooke, a book published in the 16th century and considered the most important scientific work of all time. This magnificent work contains all of Hooke's observations under the microscope.
Not only is the written compilation of his observations, the genius of the book lies in the fact that it included very well elaborated illustrations, by Hooke himself. That is why Robert Hooke's biography is so interesting.
