Robert Hooke's Experimental Philosophy

by Felicity Henderson

Overview

A critical biography of the seventeenth-century scientist’s expansive life and work.
 
Robert Hooke was England’s first professional scientist and a pioneer of science communication. He was also one of the earliest to write a guide for how others might become “experimental philosophers” like himself. In this new biography, Felicity Henderson takes Hooke’s scientific method as a starting point for an expedition into what Hooke himself saw as key aspects of a scientific life.
 
Tracing this expansive life, the story draws readers through marketplaces, bookshops, construction sites, and coffee houses—even into the King’s royal presence at Whitehall Palace. Henderson explains how Hooke’s observations and conversations with the workmen, colleagues, craftsmen, and patrons he met through his work underpinned Hooke’s research in significant ways. The result is a fresh portrait of the scientist as a champion of the mundane, whose greatest gift was to help the world see even the smallest parts of everyday life with new eyes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781789149548
Publisher:	Reaktion Books, Limited
Publication date:	02/05/2025
Series:	Renaissance Lives
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.43(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Felicity Henderson is a senior lecturer in archives and material culture at the University of Exeter. She has written widely about Robert Hooke.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Mad, Foolish and Phantastick

1 The Present Deficiency of Natural Philosophy

2 A city, where all the noises and business in the world do meet

3 Much Love and Service to all My Friends

4 These My Poor Labours

5 A Man Who Is Mechanically Minded

6 Curiosity and Beauty

7 An Excellent System of Nature

8 A Discourse of Earthquakes

Epilogue: The Teeth of Time


Chronology

References

Select Bibliography

Acknowledgements

Photo Acknowledgements

Index

Editorial Reviews

10/28/2024

Seventeenth-century English polymath Robert Hooke played a pivotal role in developing scientific methodology, according to this enlightening debut history. Henderson, an archives and material culture professor at the University of Exeter, recounts how after Hooke was appointed “curator of experiments” for the newly formed Royal Society in 1662, he found many of the fellows lacking and set about devising a system of study that would enable them to replicate the successes he’d had studying cork, moss, and leech-infested vinegar under a microscope. His system covered both mindset and process, encouraging scientists to remain skeptical of “preconceived ideas,” stay up to date with the scientific literature, and share “findings freely and in a form that was easily understood.” Henderson describes how Hooke, believing that the “human senses need the help of scientific instruments in order to create new knowledge,” invented improved helioscopes (“an instrument used to observe the Sun”), microscopes, and telescopes. Hooke also believed collaboration was essential to science, leading him to form “philosophical clubs” that would debate various topics at coffee houses. The history illuminates the formative early years of science as a scholarly discipline, and Henderson makes a strong case that Hooke’s role in building that discipline has been unjustly overlooked. This intrigues. Photos. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"Henderson’s book provides a fresh and engaging view of Robert Hooke, giving a vivid sense of his milieu in the workshops and coffee-houses of Restoration London, exploring the new world that he brought to light in his Micrographia and other writings, and filling out the ambitions for knowledge outlined in his intriguingly entitled 'philosophical algebra.'"

Michael Hunter

"In this absorbing and wide-ranging study, Felicity Henderson charts the vast range of activities pursued by the virtuoso Robert Hooke, natural philosopher and architect, master of ingenious instruments and visionary projects. Hooke’s remarkable enterprises are here used with great skill and wit to explore the effective methods of inquiry and innovation developed in early modernity, and to illuminate the vivid and active worlds of commerce, knowledge and controversy that flourished in Restoration London."

Simon Schaffer

"In her splendid myth-busting account, Felicity Henderson searches out the true Robert Hooke, scrutinising his own words to reveal an inspired researcher who drew up the blueprint for modern science. Beautifully written and illustrated, this penetrating book explores the thoughts and activities of a man who profoundly influenced the future."

Patricia Fara

12/13/2024

Henderson (archives and material culture, Univ. of Exeter ) focuses her biography on the work and life of 17th-century scientist Robert Hooke. Hooke's biggest contribution to science was introducing methods that became known as the scientific method of research. Before this, scientists did not follow established procedures or write down their methodologies or findings in a standard way. The book, written in an academic tone, describes how Hooke was born into impoverished conditions but became the first salaried scientific researcher in England. Henderson also discusses Hooke's position as curator of experiments for the Royal Society, his geometry professorship at Grisham College, and several other prestigious academic achievements. This book is also about the era of the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire of 1666; Hooke played a large role in the reconstruction efforts, as a surveyor and planner. VERDICT A highly detailed book about Hooke and his significant contributions to science and research; includes numerous historical illustrations, a bibliography, and references. Best for scholars.—John Napp

Library Journal