nPostednon July 18, 2014
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nWasnhe an unpleasant guy who tried to take credit for other people’snideas?
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nOrnwas he a misunderstood, underrated genius?
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nRobertnHooke, born on this date in 1635, started off life with little moneynbut a lot of scientific curiosity. He ended up achieving wealth andngreat standing as a scientist, architect, surveyor and all-aroundnpolymath (a person who excels at many things).
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nHistoriannAllan Chapman has called Hooke “England’s Leonardo,” referring tonLeonardo da Vinci, who was also accomplished in many differentnfields. But everyone has heard of Leonardo, and Hooke barely (if atnall) rings a bell with most of us.
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This is probably because ofnHooke’s disagreements with several other star scientists of his time,nsuch as Isaac Newton; Hooke became involved in disputes about which scientist had priority and deserved credit for various ideas and innovations.
This is probably because ofnHooke’s disagreements with several other star scientists of his time,nsuch as Isaac Newton; Hooke became involved in disputes about which scientist had priority and deserved credit for various ideas and innovations. n
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nI would venture to say that Hooke won severalnof the science history battles but lost the P.R. war.
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nHerenare some things that Hooke accomplished:
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| (Can you see things in this painting that refer to these accomplishments?) |
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nCuratorn of experiments at the Royal Society.
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nGreshamn Professor of Geometry
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nSurveyorn to the City of London after the Great Fire of London
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nann important architect of his time, assistant to the great Christophern Wren
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nbuiltn the vacuum pumps used in Boyle’s gas law experiments
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nbuiltn some of the earliest Gregorian telescopes, observed planets rotating
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ninspiredn use of microscopes for scientific exploration with his bookn Micrographia
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nearlyn proponent of evolution
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ninvestigatedn light and refraction of light; deduced wave theory of light
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nfirstn to suggest that matter expands when heated
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nfirstn to suggest that air is made of small particles spread out thinly
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ninnovatedn in fields of surveying and map-making
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nsuggestedn (but didn’t prove) that gravity follows an inverse square law
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ndiscoveredn law of elasticity
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ndevelopedn balance spring or hairspring, to be used in watches to keep time
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ndevelopedn one of the first scientific models of human memory
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nWhennI mention that Hooke lost the P.R. war and is not as famous as hisnaccomplishments would warrant, one important factor is that none ofnhis portraits have survived! The portrait included here is modern andnspeculative.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAstronaut John Glenn’s birthday
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nActivistnand statesman Nelson Mandela’s birthday
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nAnniversarynof a perfect game
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nExtremenVehicle Day
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nJulyn holidays
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nJulyn birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in July
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nAugustn holidays
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nAugustn birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in August
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