Skip to main content Skip to Search Box

Definition: Hooke, Robert from Philip's Encyclopedia

English philosopher, physicist, and inventor. Interested in astronomy, Hooke claimed to have stated the laws of planetary motion before Isaac Newton. He studied elasticity of solids, which led to Hooke's law. Among his inventions were a practical telegraph system and the Gregorian (reflecting) microscope.


Hooke, Robert (1635-1703)

From The Hutchinson Dictionary of Scientific Biography
Place: United Kingdom, England Subject : biography, physics English physicist who was also active in many other branches of science. He is remembered mainly for the derivation of Hooke's law of elasticity, for coining the term ‘cell’ as used in biology, and for the invention of the hairspring regulator in timepieces and the air pump. Hooke was born in Freshwater, Isle of Wight, on 18 July 1635. He was sickly as a child, which prevented him from studying for the church as his father had intended. Left on his own, Hooke constructed all kinds of ingenious toys, developing the great mechanical skill that he later applied to instrumentmaking. Upon the death of his father in 1648, Hooke went to London and was educated at Westminster School. There he was introduced to mathematics, mastering Euclid in only a week. In 1653 he went on to Oxford University as a chorister and there became one of a group of brilliant young scientists, among them Robert Boyle , to whom Hooke became an assistant. …
609 results

Full text Article Hooke, Robert

From Astronomy Encyclopedia
England's first great experimental physicist, best known for his law of elasticity. In 1662 he became curator of instruments at the Royal Society, and the same year tried to measure the gravitational constant using a pair of weights, and in 1665 was observing Jupiter's belts and the craters of the…
| 113 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Hooke, Robert

From Philip's Encyclopedia
| 49 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Hooke, Robert (1635-1703)

From The Hutchinson Dictionary of Scientific Biography
Place: United Kingdom, England Subject : biography, physics English physicist who was also active in many other branches of science. He is remembered mainly for the derivation of Hooke's law of elasticity, for coining the term ‘cell’ as used in biology, and for the invention of the hairspring…
| 885 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Hooke, Robert (1635–1703).

From The Oxford Companion to British History
Hooke made the microscope well known as a scientific instrument, publishing his Micrographia in 1665. Its splendid engraving of the flea made a tremendous impression, and the book opened up a new world below the level of naked-eye observation. Previously, Hooke had worked with Robert *Boyle on the…
| 126 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Hooke, Robert (1635-1703)

From The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics
| 97 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article MITE

From Gaither's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations
The cheese-mites asked how the cheese got there And warmly debated the matter; The orthodox said it came from the air And the heretics said from the platter. In Silcock, Arnold Verse and Worse Four More Brief Beliefs (p. 60 ) Faber & Faber Ltd. London England . 1952. …
| 266 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article SOUND

From Gaither's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations
American writer The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach. The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod Chapter III (p. 43 ) The Macmillan Co. New York New York USA . 2003. …
| 403 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article SHELL

From Gaither's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations
Australian paleontologist and professor of pre-Cambrian life The naive assumption that shells are acquired because they protect soft bodies seems influenced by anthropocentric thinking: man uses shields for protection from aggressors. The Dawn of Animal Life: A Biohistorical Study Chapter 4.6 (p. …
| 531 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article MANKIND

From Gaither's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations
English science and science fiction writer …when the first contact with the outer universe is made, one would like to think that Mankind played an active and not merely a passive role – that we were the discovers, not the discovered. The Exploration of Space Chapter 17 (p. 182 ) Harper & …
| 549 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article UNCERTAINTY

From Gaither's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations
American folk rock group There's something happening here, What it is ain't exactly clear. The Best of Buffalo Springfield For What It's Worth Electra CD . 1969. German physicist and philosopher In fact, our ordinary description of nature, and the idea of exact laws, rests on the assumption that it…
| 644 words
Key concepts:
Mind Map

Stack overflow
More Library Resources