Robert Hooke: biography and contributions of this English researcher.

A summary of the life of Robert Hooke, one of the references of the Scientific Revolution.

Robert Hooke is the scientist who coined the concept of "cell", whose contributions throughout his career as a scientist were fundamental in the development of biology and physics.

Hooke also had a prolific career in other very different fields (horology or chronometry, microscopy, astronomy, medicine, nautical science and architecture), which is why he has been nicknamed "the English Leonardo da Vinci".

However, despite his great scientific contributions, he did not receive much recognition. In addition, he had a strong confrontation with Isaac Newton that has been very well known.

In this biography of Robert Hooke we will give an overview of the life of this researcher, as well as an explanation of his discoveries.as well as an explanation of his most important discoveries.

Short biography of Robert Hooke

Robert Hooke was born on July 18, 1635 on the Isle of Wight, England's largest island.the largest island of England. Son of Cecily Gyles and John Hooke, an Anglican clergyman who devoted himself to teaching his son because he could not enroll him in a school due to lack of economic resources.

His father died when he was only 13 years old. Having lost his father at such a young age, he immediately had to start working.

His first job was as an assistant to a portrait painter who was very popular very popular at the time on the Isle of Wight, although he complained that the oils and varnishes they used caused irritation in the chest area, so he left the job.

Early years: Westminster School

After leaving his job, Hooke began studying at Westminster School, a very important school located in London. There he attended all kinds of meetings on science and philosophy, among other fields of great interest to him.

At Westminster School he was an outstanding student, so at the age of 18 he got a scholarship as a chorister at Christ Church College in Oxford, which is the church of the Diocese of Oxford.which is the church of the Diocese of Oxford, belonging to the University of Oxford. There he had the opportunity to receive a good academic formation and, as he was a scholarship student, he also had to collaborate in domestic tasks.

During those years he focused on developing academically in order to earn a living and thus have a better future, starting as an assistant in a laboratory, where he soon stood out for a series of discoveries he made. That is when his passion for science began to take shape, and he became interested in a Wide range of scientific work.. It was then that he met the members who formed the Royal Society, who supported him in his scientific career.

His time at the Royal Society

The Royal Society of London is the oldest society of scientists in the United Kingdom, whose official foundation dates back to 1662. However, years earlier the founding scientists already held regular meetings. Robert Hooke was a member of the society for 40 years, starting as an assistant to the philosopher, chemist, physicist and inventor Robert Boyle..

The first important work he did as Boyle's assistant was the development of an air pump that served to compress air and produce a vacuum. This pump served Boyle to conclude his experiment on the formulation of the gas law (Boyle's Law), whose main postulate is that the volume of a gas is inversely proportional to its pressure.

Robert Hooke's contributions to science.

In addition to the work he did as Boyle's assistant, Hooke made great discoveries, among which those explained below stand out.

1. Law of elasticity

While working as Boyle's assistant, Hooke developed the theory that has been called "Hooke's Law". This law was postulated with the objective of explaining that when a spring is stretched, its elongation is directly proportional to the modulus of force with which it is stretched..

This theory gave way to various scientific studies that today allow various predictions in the field of engineering and physics, for example, when designing a bridge, you can calculate the effect it will have to the weight of vehicles to travel through it and thus know the materials to build the bridge that will be necessary in order to withstand the load.

2. Capillarity

In his work published in 1665 under the name of "Micrography" (Micrographia in its Spanish translation), Hooke explains his discoveries about capillarity and explains that in the exit of water and other fluids through narrow glass tubes, the height to which the water reached was directly related to the diameter of the tube through which it passed. In addition, this work became a scientific best seller, being the first in history, and was also the first to show drawings of images captured with optical microscopy.

Cell theory and cells

With the use of the microscope, Hooke observed that in the plate there were a series of small cavities in the shape of a polyhedron, quite similar to a bread loaf.He then christened each one of them a "cell". Then he baptized each of these cavities with the name of "cell", without knowing the great relevance that these cavities had in the constitution of living beings, and that what he was actually seeing were dead plant cells.

Thanks to this observation, a few years later, the composition of the tissue of living beings was discovered and also served to postulate a theory about the organization of cells.

4. Theory of planetary motion

Robert Hooke investigated for years the theory of planetary motion starting from a problem of mechanics, and also research on the law of universal gravitation and the law of gravitation..

His works in this field were the ones that triggered his rivalry with Newton because the latter was the one who managed to publish the mathematical proof necessary to demonstrate it.

On the other hand, there are sources which reveal that Hooke investigated about the elliptical motion of the Earth around the Sun..

5. Inventions

Hooke was also a prolific inventor. His inventions included the instruments he designed to record changes in weather conditions: an alcohol thermometer, a quadrant barometerHooke's inventions included: an alcohol thermometer, a dial barometer, an improved chronometer, an anemometer, a hygrometer clock, and a clock that automatically recorded the readings of meteorological instruments.

Clash with Isaac Newton

Robert Hooke and Isaac Newton had a long battle of egos for being the most brilliant scientific mind of his time, being a very even rivalry while Hooke lived.It was a very even rivalry while Hooke lived; however, after his death Newton continued with his scientific work with many advances, so he ended up achieving greater recognition than Hooke.

The rivalry between the two arose as a result of a publication by Newton in 1687 entitled "Philosophiæ naturalis principia mathematica" (Mathematical principles of natural philosophy), where he spoke of the law of universal gravitation, due to the fact that several scientists had already been investigating this scientific idea for years, with Hooke's contributions being key in its development during the 1670s. However, Newton was the one who managed to create the rigorous mathematical proof to demonstrate it.

The point is that years earlier Hooke and Newton had had a long relationship by correspondence in which they talked about all sorts of subjects. Then, after Newton had published his theory of the law of gravity, Hooke got angry because he claimed that he was the one who had given the idea to Newton through the letters he wrote to him; while Newton denied that it was Hooke who had given him the idea. The only thing Newton admitted was that Hooke, through his letters, aroused his interest in astronomy.

They also had a rather similar dispute based on Newton's published "Corpuscular Theory", in which he claimed that light was composed of very small particles moving in a straight line.

Leaving aside the conflicts that Robert Hooke had with Isaac Newton, there is no doubt that he was a great scientist with a brilliant mind, being a very representative figure of experimental science, being considered one of the fathers of microscopy, physics and popular science, so his figure has continued to be remembered to this day.