Table of Contents

Early Life: the Prodigy from the Isle of Wight. Breathing, Burning and Flying: Hooke's Scientific Apprenticeship. The Curator of Experiments. Microscopes and Meteorology. Hooke and the Astronomers. Medicine and Physiology. Surveyor to the City of London. A World Turned Upside Down: Hooke's Geological Ideas. A World of Mechanism. A Realm of Vibration: of Flight, Spring, Watches and Music. "A Large Window...into the Shop of Nature": Hooke and Light. From Pendulums to Planets: Experiments and the Understanding of Gravity. Friends, Mistresses, Religion and Politics: Hooke's Inner World. Death and Historical Legacy. Endnotes. Index

About the Author

Chapman, Allan

Reviews

"This, the latest work on Robert Hooke is probably the definitive biography and more than justifies a place in any scholarly library. Chapman is master of his subject and he draws the reader into the details and the physics producing compelling narrative packed with information." -- A review essay by Howard Dawes, January 2005 The book is written with enthusiasm, and is perhaps at its strongest in its hands-on account of Hooke's scientific practice: Chapman has actually tried to replicate Hooke's experiments using comparable equipment. -- Times Literary Supplement by Micheal Hunter "Allan Chapman has written a biography rich in detail; In England's Leonardo Chapman does him (Robert Hooke) Proud" -- Roy Herbert, New Scientist, 16 April 2005 "Allan Chapman's enthusiasm for Hooke comes over 'loud and clear' in this scholarly work, which comprehensively guides us from his birth...to his death. Allan Chapman's essential biography, well researched as it is, fills in many of the holes created by Newton and his followers (or gaps in Hooke's own diaries), sets the life in historical, social, and scientific contexts, and draws very welcome conclusions as to the legacy of Robert Hooke. This is a volume to keep handy for reference, with copious notes at the end; but it is also one to enjoy and to treasure as a document setting the record straight." -- David Stickland; The Observatory magazine; Vol 125; No. 1186, June 2005