Robert hooke biography yahoo real estate

His book Micrographiapublished that year, contained beautiful pictures of objects Hooke had studied through a microscope he had made himself. The book also contains a number of fundamental biological discoveries. Pepys wrote in his diary:- Before I went to bed I sat up till two o'clock in my chamber reading Mr Hooke's Microscopical Observations, the most ingenious book that ever I read in my life.

Westfall writes [ 1 ] :- Micrographia remains one of the masterpieces of seventeenth century science. Above all, the book suggested what the microscope could do for biological science. Hooke invented the conical pendulum and was the first person to build a Gregorian reflecting telescope. He made important astronomical observations including the fact that Jupiter revolves on its axis which he discovered from observing spots.

He then invented a helioscope to attempt to measure the rotation of the sun using sunspots. He made drawings of Mars which were later used to determine its period of rotation. He observed several comets and asked a number of important questions about them, including why the tail points away from the sun, and how if the comet is burning it could burn for so long and burn in a place where there is no air.

In he proposed that gravity could be measured using a pendulum. He was a very competent architect and was chief assistant to Wren in his project to rebuild London after the Great Fire of Westfall writes [ 1 ] :- Wren and Hooke dominated and guided the work, and cemented a friendship that lasted throughout their lives. To Hooke the position of surveyor was a financial boon, more than compensating for the uncertainty of his other income.

When Newton produced his theory of light and colour inHooke claimed that what was correct in Newton 's theory was stolen from his own ideas about light of and what was original was wrong. This marked the beginning of severe arguments between the two. In Hooke attempted to prove that the Earth moves in an ellipse round the Sun and six years later proposed that inverse square law of gravitation to explain planetary motions.

Hooke wrote to Newton in asking for his opinion Hooke, however, seemed unable to give a mathematical proof of his conjectures or perhaps unwilling to devote his time to this robert hooke biography yahoo real estate of pursuit. However he claimed priority over the inverse square law and this led to a bitter dispute with Newton who, as a consequence, removed all references to Hooke from the Principia.

Frequent bitter disputes with fellow scientists occurred throughout Hooke's life. On the other hand, we should note that he was on very good terms with some colleagues, particularly Boyle and Wren. Historians have described Hooke as a difficult and unreasonable man but in many ways this is a harsh judgement. There is no doubt that Hooke genuinely felt that others had stolen ideas which he had been first to put forward.

It is easy to see why this happened. Hooke did indeed come up with a vast range of brilliant ideas many of which were claimed by others not because they wished to steal them from him, but rather because Hooke never followed through developing his ideas into building comprehensive theories. He failed to develop major theories from his inspired ideas for the simple reason that he did not really have the technical ability to develop such comprehensive theories as some of his contemporaries like Newton and Huygens.

The diaries of Hooke are fascinating documents in that they tell us something about his character as well as painting an interesting picture of his times. Here are some examples taken from [ 10 ] :- He was a brisk walker, and enjoyed walking in the fields north of the City. Sometimes Hooke would work all through the night, and then have a nap after dinner.

As well as drinking a variety of waters He also had a barrel of Flanstead's ale and Tillotson's ale. There are a few instances when he recorded that he had been drunk He was a gregarious person, who liked to meet people, particularly those who had travelled abroad As Hooke grew older he became more cynical and would shut himself away from company.

The papers which he wrote in the last few years of his life are filled with bitter comments. He also invents the balance spring. He establishes the number of vibrations corresponding to musical notes. He is created Professor of Geometry at Gresham College. He lives in College buildings until the end of his days. There is a short break to escape the plague as he moves to Epsom, employed as an assistant to Dr Wilkins and Sir William Petty at Durdans, the home of the Earl of Berkeley.

He also presents the first screw-divided quadrant, an anemometer, and a weather-clock barometer. He gives a lecture on earthquakes at the Royal Society. World fame might not have been in the cards for him, but he was able to maintain a solid and successful career in his profession. Privately, he did complain that others who he felt were less deserving had garnered more notoriety in their field.

Hooke might have grown somewhat bitter over the years due to the various perceived slights he felt over the recognition he believed he deserved.

Robert hooke biography yahoo real estate

As a result, he became somewhat difficult to deal with and extremely ill at ease about any criticism he might have had to face. As a result, he strained many friendships. Robert Hooke died in March of in London. In his living space was found a massive amount of money. He seemed to not have squandered a shilling. He left a legacy of great work in mechanics and the sciences and now maintains some of the fame that eluded him in life.

In Hooke was appointed Curator of Experiments to the newly founded Royal Society, being responsible for the experiments performed at its weekly meetings. This was an extremely important job, since the Society was dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge through experimentation. This role, however, was that of an employee, not an equal to the Fellows, and he was expected to be at their beck and call.

As Curator he had rooms in Gresham Collegenear Holborn, where he was to live for the rest of his life. Early inquiries included the nature of the air and its relationship to respiration and combustion; the laws of falling bodies; improvements to diving-bells; methods of telegraphy; the relationship of barometric readings to the weather; fixing the thermometrical zero at the freezing-point of water and the invention of a machine for cutting gear-wheels.

Hooke suggested many hypotheses based on his experiments that would anticipate later discoveries. Among other theories, he suggested a wave theory of light in his Micrographiacomparing the spreading of light vibrations to that of waves in water. Later, inhe suggested that the vibrations in light might be perpendicular to the direction of propagation.

He investigated the colours of membranes and of thin plates of mica, and established the variation of the light pattern with the thickness of the plates. In the book Hooke also proposed a definition of heat as a property of a body arising from the vibration of its parts. Micrographia contains observations of everyday objects made with the aid of a microscope.

Micrographia is of course, best known for its microscopic studies, but it also includes a series of observations of lunar craters. The theory appeared in De Potentia Restitutiva in His interest in gases and their properties also found expression in his work on respiration. Following the tendency of his fellow natural philosophers to experiment on themselves, one experiment had Hooke in a sealed vessel from which the air was gradually pumped.