The First Professional Scientist

Robert Hooke was long the intellectual center of the Royal Society of London, serving as curator of experiments for thirty years and briefly as secretary. He was also key in rebuilding London after the fire. This book chronicles Hooke's scientific work.

A contemporary of Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, and Isaac Newton, and close friend of all but Newton, Robert Hooke (1635-1703), one of the founders of the early scientific revolution, faded into almost complete obscurity after his death and remained there for nearly three centuries. The result has been that his role in the scientific revolution has been almost totally ignored. He was the first professional scientist worthy of the name, working for the young Royal Society of London as its curator of experiments for four decades. He became the Society's intellectual center, and for a while its Secretary, roles which led to confrontation with Newton. He made important contributions to pneumatics, mechanics, microscopy, astronomy, and geology, and was partner to Wren in rebuilding London after the Fire.

Focuses on Hooke's role as simultaneously an employee of the Society and its intellectual center for 30 years First book which incorporates the insights gained from the newly discovered "Hooke Folio" of 2006 Demonstrates how Hooke provided Newton with the key to understanding planetary orbital motion, an insight which led Newton to his great work, the Principia Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Inhalt
Restoring Robert Hooke.- Robert Hooke, Indefaticable Genius: Hooke and London.- Promoting Physico-Mathematical-Experimental Learning: Founding the Royal Society of London.- Society of the Muses: The First Decade.- Crisis and Consolidation: 16721687.- The Society After the Principia: 16881703.- Scientific Virtuoso: Hooke 16551687.- And all was Light: Hooke and Newton on Light and Color.- The Nature of Things Themselves: Robert Hooke, Natural Philosopher.- The System of the World: Hooke and Universal Gravitation, the Inverse-square Law, and Planetary Orbits.- The Omnipotence of the Creator: Robert Hooke, Astronomer.- The Last Remain: Hooke After the Principa, 16871703.- Epilogue.- Erratum.