English naturalist Robert Hooke was one of the most outstanding minds of the seventeenth century. He worked on various hypotheses and instruments, improved and was the first to establish the features of the cellular structure of tissues.

The childhood of a great scientist

The future physicist, botanist, inventor and astronomer was born on July 18, 1635 in the city of Freshwater, located on the Isle of Wight. His father was rector of All Saints Church. Relatives had long feared for the baby’s health, as he was very weak and frail, but Robert survived. In 1648, after the death of his father, Robert Hooke moved to London and became a student of an artist named Peter Lely. Already, he disapprovingly recalled his childhood years, but the mastery of illustrations with which the physicist accompanied his works allows us to say that the time in the art workshop was not lost in vain. At the age of fourteen, the boy became a student at Westminster Bashby School, from which he graduated in 1653. Like any scientist, Robert Hooke studied Latin, which was the main language of scientific communication of those times. In addition, he spoke Hebrew and Greek, knew how to play the organ, and instantly mastered complex textbooks.

Beginning of scientific activity

After school, Robert Hooke moved to Oxford to become a student at Christ Church College. In addition, he was a chorister in the church, as well as an assistant and close collaborator of Boyle. In those same years, an acquaintance took place with the participants of the “Invisible College” of Oxford, the creators of a scientific and organizational society that played a significant role in Hooke’s life. During this period, the physicist invented an air pump and created a treatise on the movement of fluid in capillaries. In addition, Robert Hooke, whose discoveries made it possible to create a spring mechanism, had a small dispute with Huygens, who was also working on such devices. In 1662, the scientist was awarded an arts degree from the University of Oxford; the Royal Society, which was just being formed at that time, appointed him curator of experiments. In 1663, Robert Hooke created a charter for this scientific community, was accepted among its members, and in 1677 became its secretary.

London professor

Even a short biography of Robert Hooke cannot do without mentioning that in 1664, when the plague was raging in England, the physicist did not leave London. Not long before he had been appointed professor at Gresham College and lived in an apartment in its building. In addition, Hooke did not stop working as a curator of experiments for the Royal Society. It was a difficult position for which there was no remuneration. For a not very wealthy scientist, preparing new experiments was associated with significant costs. Nevertheless, this work helped his personal research and established the physicist as a respected honorary consultant. Additionally, Robert's breadth of interests impressed other members of the community. The profile of Robert Hooke in the History of the Royal Society chronicles his work as a curator and describes his amazing experiments with vacuums, gunpowder, the thermal expansion of glass, as well as his work on the microscope, the iris diaphragm, and all kinds of meteorological instruments.

Creation of "Micrography"

In 1665, the scientist’s most important work was published. The treatise, entitled “Micrography,” detailed the uses of the microscope for a variety of things. It described sixty different experiments with parts of plants, insects, and animals. It was Robert Hooke who made the discovery about the cellular structure of organisms. Biology was not his main scientific interest, so the result of his research is all the more surprising. In addition, material dedicated to
fossils, makes Hooke also the founder of paleontology. The excellent quality of the illustrations and engravings made Micrographia an invaluable book. Despite the fact that the scientist is almost forgotten at the moment, his breakthrough in the study of cells is of enormous importance. It's really worth knowing about this discovery.

Opening the cell

Robert Hooke's improved microscope was a subject of constant interest to the scientist. He examined many objects with it. One day he came across a bottle cap as an object to study. The cut made with a sharp knife amazed the scientist with its complex and regular structure. The cells that made up the cork material reminded Hooke of a honeycomb. Since the cut was of plant origin, further research was carried out on the stems and branches of other plants. On a thin slice of elderberry, Robert again saw a honeycomb surface. These cells, separated from each other by the thinnest partitions, were called cells by the physicist. He studied their sizes and the effect of their presence on the properties of the material consisting of them. Thus began the history of the study. Further work on them was transferred to another member of the Royal Society, Nehemiah Grew, who was more passionate about biology than Robert Hooke. The history of the discovery of cells developed thanks to his efforts. Assiduous and attentive, he devoted his entire life to the study of plants and largely influenced the further development of science in this area. His main treatise on the topic was “Plant Anatomy with an Outline of the Philosophical History of the Plant World and Several Other Papers Read Before the Royal Society.” Meanwhile, physicist Robert Hooke had already begun other experiments.

Further activities

Robert Hooke, whose biography has already been updated with the publication of Micrographia, did not stop there. He developed theories about light, gravity and the structure of matter, invented a computer for complex arithmetic operations, and improved an instrument that made it possible to study the Earth's magnetic field. The scientist was too harsh in some of his views.
For example, in 1674 he had a dispute with Hevelius related to the peculiarities of using microscopes. In the second half of the 1670s, works were written on the theory of elasticity, which became the basis for the famous Hooke's law. He said that the increase in length relative to the original is proportional to the magnitude of the force causing the lengthening, inversely proportional to the cross-sectional size of the object and is associated with the material from which it is made.

Communication with Newton

In 1672 he became a member of the Royal Society, of which Robert Hooke had long been a member. The story of the discovery of cells and his other experiments strengthened the physicist's authority in the eyes of others, but his communication with Newton was tense for many years. Their scientific disputes concerned both private issues, for example, the shape of the curve that a falling body describes, and fundamental ideas, including the nature of light. Newton believed that light consists of a stream of special particles, which he called light corpuscles. Robert Hooke, whose biography at that time included works on the wave nature of light, assumed that it consists of vibrational movements of a transparent medium. Thus arose the debate between the corpuscular and wave theories. The debate was so tense that Newton decided not to write about optics until Hooke's death.

Plagiarism or simultaneous discovery?

In 1686, another debate broke out between Newton and Hooke, this time related to the law of universal gravitation. Probably Hooke independently came to understand the proportional relationship between the force of gravity and the square of the distance between bodies, which allowed him to accuse the author of the Elements of plagiarism. The physicist wrote a letter to the Royal Society on this topic. However, Newton described this issue in more detail, correctly defined the law of interaction and formulated the most important laws of mechanics. On their basis, he explained the movement of the planets, the ebb and flow of the tides, and made many other important discoveries. Hooke was too overloaded with work to carefully address this particular area. However, one cannot fail to note his deep interest in the problem of gravity and a series of experiments devoted to it, which were carried out since 1671.

Sunset activity

In the last years of his life, Robert Hooke, whose biography is full of important discoveries in many areas, was as active as before. He studied the structure of muscles, trying to create their mechanical models, received a doctorate in medicine, was interested in amber, and gave lectures, including on the causes of earthquakes. Thus, the scientist’s sphere of interest has only expanded over the years, which means that the workload has also increased. After a terrible fire, most of London was destroyed. The restoration of the city was led by Christopher Wren, an outstanding English architect and close friend of Hooke. Helping him, Hooke worked hard for about four years, amazingly paying attention to scientific work, and leaving only a couple of hours for sleep and rest.

Contribution to the restoration of London

Robert Hooke played the most important role. Together with Christopher Wren, he redeveloped the area around the London Exchange. With the assistance of Hugh May and Roger Pratt, he made a significant contribution to the architecture of London. Among other things, Hooke and Ren created a project for a monument to the victims of the terrible fire. A careful design was developed, and in 1677 the world saw the impressive Doric column, which was created using Portland stone. Its top was crowned with a gilded ball with tongues of fire. Initially, Christopher Wren wanted to portray Charles II there, to which he objected that he did not take part in the occurrence of the fire. The height of the monument is 61 meters and 57 centimeters, exactly the same distance from the column to the place where the fire started. Hooke planned to use the monument as a scientific laboratory for a zenith telescope and pendulum work, but vibrations created by traffic prevented such work.

Departure

The work to restore London improved the scientist’s financial situation, but had a negative impact on his health. The intense daily routine resulted in illness and severe deterioration of vision. The last invention of the great scientist was the marine barometer. The Royal Society learned about him in February 1701 from the lips of Edmond Halley, who was a close friend of Hooke. Physicist, biologist and naturalist Robert Hooke died on March 3, 1703 in his apartment at Gresham College. One of the most gifted people of those times, he was undeservedly forgotten over the years.

Reasons for oblivion

Hooke's work on the nature of light and the laws of gravity served as the basis for the work of Isaac Newton, but serious disagreements between the two scientists worsened their relationship. A kind of confrontation began. Thus, from his “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy” Newton removed all references to the works of Hooke. In addition, he tried to downplay his contribution to science. After becoming president of the Royal Society, Newton stopped using Hooke's many handcrafted instruments, consigned his work to oblivion, and removed his portrait. The glory of the most talented physicist faded. Nevertheless, it is about him that Newton’s famous words were written. In one of his letters, he says that he saw further only because he stood on the shoulders of giants. Indeed, Robert Hooke deserves such a name, because he was the greatest scientist, inventor, natural scientist, astronomer and architect of his time.

Doctors and relatives of Hooke feared that he would die in infancy. Some assured that he would not live to see his twentieth birthday. However, the physicist lived for 68 years, which by the standards of the seventeenth century can be called a very long period. The name “cell,” which he proposed for the elementary units of a living organism, is due to the fact that such particles reminded Hooke of monks’ cells. One of the experiments related to breathing almost ended badly for the scientist. He placed himself in a special sealed apparatus from which air was pumped out, and as a result he partially lost his hearing. In addition to the monument built in collaboration with Wren, buildings such as the Greenwich Observatory and St. Paul's Cathedral were created based on Hooke's designs. You can still see these works of the great physicist.

Biography

Rombert Hooke (eng. Robert Hooke; Robert Hook, July 18, 1635, Isle of Wight March 3, 1703, London) - English naturalist, learned encyclopedist. Hooke can easily be called one of the fathers of physics, especially experimental physics, but in many other sciences he often owns some of the first fundamental works and many discoveries.

Hooke's father initially prepared him for spiritual activity, but due to the boy's poor health and his demonstrated ability to practice mechanics, he assigned him to study watchmaking. Subsequently, however, young Hooke showed interest in scientific studies and, as a result, was sent to Westminster School, where he successfully studied Latin, Ancient Greek, and Hebrew, but was especially interested in mathematics and showed great ability for inventions in physics and mechanics. His ability to study physics and chemistry was recognized and appreciated by scientists at Oxford University, where he began studying in 1653; he first became an assistant to the chemist Willis, and then to the famous Robert Boyle. From 1662 he was a curator of experiments at the Royal Society of London (from its inception). In 1663, the Royal Society, recognizing the usefulness and importance of his discoveries, made him a member. In 1677-- 1683 was the secretary of this society. From 1664 he was a professor at the University of London (professor of geometry at Gresham College). In 1665 he published “Micrography”, which described his microscopic and telescopic observations, containing the publication of significant discoveries in biology. From 1667 Hooke read “Kutlerov’s ( Cutlerian or Cutler) lectures" on mechanics. During his 68-year life, Robert Hooke, despite poor health, was tireless in his studies, made many scientific discoveries, inventions and improvements. More than 300 years ago, he discovered the cell, the female egg and the male spermatozoa.

Discoveries

Hooke's discoveries include:

· discovery of proportionality between elastic tension, compression and bending, and the stresses that produce them (Hooke’s law),

· correct formulation of the law of universal gravitation (Hooke’s priority was disputed by Newton, but, apparently, not in terms of formulation; in addition, Newton claimed an independent and earlier discovery of this formula, which, however, he did not tell anyone before Hooke’s discovery),

· discovery of the colors of thin plates (that is, ultimately, the phenomenon of light interference),

· the idea of ​​the wave-like propagation of light (more or less simultaneously with Huygens), its experimental substantiation by the interference of light discovered by Hooke, the wave theory of light,

· hypothesis about the transverse nature of light waves,

· discoveries in acoustics, such as the demonstration that the pitch of a sound is determined by the frequency of vibrations,

· theoretical position about the essence of heat as the movement of particles of a body,

discovery of the constancy of the temperature of melting ice and boiling water,

· Boyle's law (what the contribution of Hooke, Boyle and his student Richard Townley is here is not entirely clear),

· living cell (with the help of a microscope he improved; Hooke himself owns the term “cell” - English cell),

· direct proof of the Earth's rotation around the Sun by a change in the parallax of the star Draco (see Bogolyubov) (in the second half of 1669) and much more.

The first of these discoveries, as he himself claims in his work “De potentia restitutiva”, published in 1678, was made by him 18 years before that time, and in 1676 it was placed in another of his books under the guise of the anagram “ceiiinosssttuv”, meaning “Ut tensio sic vis.” According to the author's explanation, the above law of proportionality applies not only to metals, but also to wood, stones, horn, bones, glass, silk, hair, etc. Currently, this Hooke's law in its generalized form serves as the basis for the mathematical theory of elasticity. As for his other discoveries, he does not have such exclusive primacy in them; Thus, Boyle noticed the colors of thin plates in soap bubbles 9 years earlier; but Hooke, observing the colors of thin plates of gypsum, noticed the periodicity of colors depending on the thickness: he discovered the constancy of the melting temperature of ice no earlier than the members of the Florentine Academy, but he noticed the constancy of the boiling temperature of water earlier than Renaldini; The idea of ​​the wave-like propagation of light was expressed by him later than Grimaldi.

Following Kepler, Hooke had the idea of ​​the universal force of gravity from the mid-1660s, then, still in an insufficiently defined form, he expressed it in 1674 in the treatise “An Attempt to Prove the Motion of the Earth,” but already in a letter on January 6, 1680 to Newton Hooke for the first time clearly formulates the law of universal gravitation and invites Newton, as a mathematically more competent researcher, to strictly mathematically substantiate it, showing the connection with Kepler’s first law for non-circular orbits (quite likely, already having an approximate solution). With this letter, as far as is now known, the documentary history of the law of universal gravitation begins. Hooke's immediate predecessors are called Kepler, Borelli and Bulliald, although their views are quite far from a clear, correct formulation. Newton also owned some work on gravitation that preceded Hooke's results, but most of the most important results that Newton later recalled were, in any case, not communicated to anyone by him.

IN AND. Arnold in his book “Huygens and Barrow, Newton and Hooke” argues, including with documents, the assertion that it was Hooke who discovered the law of universal gravitation (the inverse square law for the central gravitational force), and even quite correctly substantiated it for the case of circular orbits, Newton completed this justification for the case of elliptical orbits (at the initiative of Hooke: the latter informed him of his results and asked him to take up this problem). The quotations from Newton, who disputed Hooke's priority, indicated only that Newton attached disproportionately greater importance to his part of the proof (due to its difficulty, etc.), but does not at all deny that Hooke's formulation of the law belonged to him. Thus, the priority of formulation and initial justification should be given to Hooke (if, of course, not to someone before him), and he, apparently, clearly formulated the task of completing the justification to Newton. Newton, however, claimed that he had made the same discovery independently before, but he did not tell anyone about it, and there is no documentary evidence of it; in addition, in any case, Newton abandoned work on this topic, which he resumed, as he admitted, under the influence of Hooke’s letter.

A number of modern authors believe that Hooke’s main contribution to celestial mechanics was the representation of the Earth’s motion as a superposition of inertial motion (tangential to the trajectory) and the fall on the Sun as a gravitating center, which had, in particular, a serious influence on Newton. In particular, this method of consideration provided a direct basis for elucidating the nature of Kepler’s second law (conservation of angular momentum under a central force), which was the key to the complete solution of the Kepler problem.

In Arnold's book mentioned above, it is indicated that Hooke is responsible for the discovery of the law, which in modern literature is usually called Boyle's law, and it is stated that Boyle himself not only does not dispute this, but clearly writes about it (Boyle himself only takes first place in the publication). However, the real contribution of Boyle and his student Richard Townley to the discovery of this law could have been quite large.

Using the microscope he improved, Hooke observed the structure of plants and gave a clear drawing that for the first time showed the cellular structure of the cork (the term “cell” was introduced by Hooke). In his work “Micrography” (Micrographia, 1665) he described the cells of elderberries, dill, carrots, gave images of very small objects, such as the eye of a fly, a mosquito and its larvae, described in detail the cellular structure of a cork, a bee’s wing, mold, and moss. In the same work, Hooke outlined his theory of colors and explained the color of thin layers by the reflection of light from their upper and lower boundaries. Hooke adhered to the wave theory of light and disputed the corpuscular theory; He considered heat to be the result of the mechanical movement of particles of a substance.

hooke physics invention discovery

At the heart of structural science is essentially the question of how it is that any inanimate solid: steel, concrete, wood, plastic, is capable of resisting mechanical force or at least supporting its own weight? I was the first to try to answer this question Englishman Robert Hooke. He realized that if a material or structure resists the action of a load, then this is only possible due to its response to the body creating this load, with a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. Those. If your feet press down on the floor, then the floor presses up on them. If a building presses on the foundation, then the foundation also presses on the building. This is implied in Newton's Third Law, which states that action and reaction are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.

Physicist and mechanic Robert Hooke (07/18/1635 - 03/03/1703) was born into a priest's family in the village of Freshwater on the Isle of Wight (England). His father intended him to become a priest, but seeing that the boy showed a penchant for inventing mechanical toys, he changed his mind and planned a career as a watchmaker for his son. However, R. Hooke did not become a watchmaker, although, as mentioned above, at one time he worked on creating a design for the precise movement of watches. Hooke's father died in 1648, when his son was 13 years old, and in the same year Hooke was sent to a private school in Westminster, where he successfully studied physics and mathematics and ancient languages: Latin, ancient Greek and Hebrew. Hooke's contemporaries said that he studied six books of Euclid's Elements in one week.

In 1653, R. Hooke entered Oxford University. During his student years, Hooke became a member of the circle of scientists that later formed the Royal Society of London - the British Academy of Sciences. After graduating from the university, Hooke worked as an assistant, first with the chemist R. Willis, and then with the physicist Robert Boyle.

In 1662, he was awarded the degree of Master of Arts and, on the recommendation of R. Boyle, received the position of curator of experiments at the Royal Society of London, which was organized in the same year. The duties of the curator included conducting original and interesting experiments at the weekly meetings of the society. Hooke held this position until 1677. Hooke's amazing technical ingenuity and his magnificent skill as an experimenter found good use in this work. In 1663, R. Hooke became a member of the Royal Society of London, and in 1677 its secretary. He performed this duty until 1683.

Already in 1676, Hooke clearly understood not only that the resistance of solid bodies to mechanical loads is created through reaction forces, but also that, firstly, under mechanical influence, every body or structure changes shape, stretching or compressing, and secondly secondly, it is this change that allows the solid body to create a counterforce. He proved that all structures under the influence of loads experience displacement (deformation) to varying degrees.

Next, Hooke came to another important idea- he realized that under the influence of loads, deformations occur not only in the entire structure, but also in the material itself. Atoms or molecules of a material move away or move closer to each other under the influence of a load. And since the physicochemical bonds connecting the atoms of the material are very strong and rigid, this creates powerful resistance to even small deformations; in other words, large counter forces arise in the material.

Hooke did many experiences with a variety of objects from a variety of materials, of various geometric shapes (springs, pieces of wire, beams). By successively hanging loads on them and measuring displacements, he showed that in any design displacement proportional to load. In addition, within the limits of possible measurements, most solids restore their original shape after the load is removed. This behavior of the material is called elastic.

Hooke published the results of his experiments in 1679. The article was called "Resistance force or elasticity" it contained the famous statement: “uttensiosicvis” - “What is the stretch, so is the force.” It is these conclusions that are called Hooke’s law, and they formed the basis of modern sciences ‒ strength of materials, structural mechanics and elasticity theory.

The magnitude of the deformations depends on the size, geometric shape of the structure and the material from which the structure is made. Materials such as rubber and fabric deform even under the influence of very small forces, so they are less rigid than wood, stone, concrete or steel. And although absolutely solid bodies do not exist in nature, some materials, like diamond, are very hard. After Hooke's death, for 120 years, science has not found a way to solve the problem of the relationship between loads and deformations. Although it served engineers very well, the 18th century made surprisingly little progress in the study of elasticity. Here we cannot ignore the influence of Newton’s personality on the development of strength sciences.

R. Hooke and Isaac Newton were the only members of the Royal Society who did not make the financial contributions obligatory for members of the society at that time, since they supported the viability of the society with their activities. In 1664, R. Hooke received the position of professor of geometry at Gresham College, University of London. Mathematics is not his calling, but his livelihood. However, the professor's salary was so small that R. Hooke had to seek Cutler's lectures, financed by the wealthy philanthropist Cutler. When a huge fire occurred in London in 1666, destroying most of the city, a committee was organized to draw up plans for the restoration of the city and supervise construction work, which included R. Hooke: he took the position of chief inspector for the restoration of London. R. Hooke was an excellent administrator and a talented architect, who knew construction and architecture well. The fact that just eight years later, by 1674, London had risen from the ruins is a great merit of R. Hooke.

Of the scientific works of the early period, the most significant is “Micrography,” published in 1665. It describes experiments on microscopy of various objects. He was an excellent microscopist and draftsman. Biology owes him a lot, in which he discovered plant cellular structure. Even the term "cell", so familiar to us, and it belongs to Hooke (he proposed it after improving the microscope. Simultaneously with the creation of Micrographia, R. Hooke worked in the field of mechanics; he experimentally established the law of direct proportionality of movements to applied forces.

R. Hooke approached the formulation law of gravity and studied the colors of thin plates before I. Newton. He developed the idea of ​​the wave nature of light. R. Hooke developed basic principles of the kinetic theory of gases. He offered to accept beyond zero degrees the freezing point of water. Working with R. Boyle, he built "pneumatic machine", - the “great-grandmother of the steam engine” of inventor James Watt. R. Hooke owns the design of a complex telescope. In the history of the earth, he assigned a large role to internal dynamic processes, such as eruptions and earthquakes. R. Hooke was an extremely active person. Every day he felt an urgent need to communicate with people of various positions and professions. He was a regular at London's most popular cafes, in which he talked with acquaintances and strangers on a wide variety of issues of science, technology ics and politics. At book auctions, he spent years chasing his favorite rare books. He came to London wharves during the hours of arrival of ships from distant countries in order to learn first-hand commercial and political news in conversations with sailors and merchants.

There was fierce hostility, and even enmity, between Newton and Hooke. (Hooke was a childhood friend of King Charles II of England, and Newton was of humble origins and was quite likely jealous of Hooke). Newton lived 25 years longer than Hooke and devoted a significant part of this time to denigrating the memory of Hooke and his legacy, and since his authority in the scientific world was indisputable, Hooke’s works had no followers for some time. After the death of R. Hooke, I was elected President of the Society Newton, with whom Hooke was in deep quarrel until the end of his days. The reason for this was repeated disputes about priority for discoveries and disagreements on some important scientific issues. Having become president of the Royal Society, I. Newton did not seek to preserve the memory of Hooke for posterity. As a result, his portrait, which was available at Gresham College, was lost forever, and numerous experimental installations created by Hooke for conducting experiments at meetings of the Royal Society were also destroyed.

Isn’t Hooke’s great law, which constantly sounds from the pages of textbooks, the best monument to the great scientist? By the way, in addition to mechanics, Hooke was extremely talented in other sciences. Much has been researched in physics, astronomy.). Great mechanic, inventing and improving mechanisms. Even in construction I brought my own contribution to London street layout. All in all, talented in everything he does. E.N . Yes, Costa Endrade, who wrote a long biography of R. Hooke, ended it like this: “Admire R. Hooke, he is worthy of your admiration”.

Robert Hooke(English Robert Hooke; Robert Hook, July 18 (28), 1635, Isle of Wight, England - March 3, 1703, in London) - English naturalist, encyclopedist. Hooke can safely be called one of the fathers of physics, especially experimental physics, but in many other sciences he often owns some of the first fundamental works and many discoveries.

Biography

Hooke's father initially prepared him for spiritual activity, but due to Robert's poor health and his demonstrated ability to practice mechanics, he assigned him to study watchmaking. Subsequently, however, young Hooke showed interest in scientific studies and, as a result, was sent to Westminster School, where he successfully studied Latin, Ancient Greek, and Hebrew, but was especially interested in mathematics and showed great ability for inventions in physics and chemistry. His ability to study physics and chemistry was recognized and appreciated by scientists at Oxford University, where he began studying in 1653; He first became an assistant to the chemist Willis, and then to the famous Robert Boyle.

• From 1662 he was curator of experiments at the Royal Society of London (since its creation).
• In 1663 the Royal Society, recognizing the usefulness and importance of his discoveries, made him a member.
• In 1677-1683 he was secretary of this society.
• From 1664 - professor at the University of London (professor of geometry at Gresham College).
• In 1665 he published Micrographia, which described his microscopic and telescopic observations, containing the publication of significant discoveries in biology.
• Since 1667, Hooke has been reading the “Cutlerian or Cutler Lectures” on mechanics.

During his 68-year life, Robert Hooke, despite his poor health, was tireless in his studies and made many scientific discoveries, inventions and improvements.

More than 350 years ago, he discovered the cell, the female egg and male sperm.

Discoveries

Hooke's discoveries include:

• discovery of proportionality between elastic tension, compression and bending, and the stresses that produce them (Hooke’s law),
• correct formulation of the law of universal gravitation (Hooke's priority was disputed by Newton, but, apparently, not in terms of the formulation - the force of gravity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance; in addition, Newton claimed an independent and earlier discovery of this formula, which, however, before Hooke's discovery didn't tell anyone)
• discovery of the colors of thin films (that is, ultimately, the phenomenon of light interference),
• the idea of ​​the wave-like propagation of light (more or less simultaneously with Huygens), its experimental substantiation by the interference of light discovered by Hooke, the wave theory of light,
• hypothesis about the transverse nature of light waves,
• discoveries in acoustics, such as the demonstration that the pitch of a sound is determined by the frequency of vibrations,
• theoretical position about the essence of heat as the movement of particles of a body,
• discovery of the constancy of the temperature of melting ice and boiling water,
• Boyle's law (what the contribution of Hooke, Boyle and his student Richard Townley is here is not entirely clear),
• A living cell using the microscope he improved. Hooke also owns the term “cell” - English. cell.

and much more.

The first of these discoveries, as he himself states in his work, “ De potentia restitutiva", published in 1679, was made by him 18 years before this time, and in 1676 it was placed in another of his books under the guise of an anagram " ceiiinosssttuv", meaning " Ut tensio sic vis" According to the author's explanation, the above law of proportionality applies not only to metals, but also to wood, stones, horn, bones, glass, silk, hair, etc. Currently, this Hooke's law in its generalized form serves as the basis for the mathematical theory of elasticity. As for his other discoveries, he does not have such exclusive primacy in them; Thus, Boyle noticed the colors of thin films in soap bubbles 9 years earlier; but Hooke, observing the colors of thin plates of gypsum, noticed the periodicity of colors depending on the thickness: he discovered the constancy of the melting temperature of ice no earlier than the members of the Florentine Academy, but he noticed the constancy of the boiling temperature of water earlier than Renaldini; The idea of ​​the wave-like propagation of light was expressed by him later than Grimaldi.

Robert Hooke

Hooke was somewhat older than Newton. He was born in 1635, the son of a priest on the Isle of Wight, located in the English Channel. Hooke was a very weak and sickly child and therefore did not receive a systematic education. In 1648, his father died and the boy moved to London, where he became a student of the rather famous artist Peter Lely. He did not like studying with the artist, but in the future, when he made illustrations for his scientific works, the skills acquired in childhood came in handy.

In 1649, Robert entered one of the Westminster schools. Only now has he begun full-time studies. And then something extraordinary happened. The boy showed amazing abilities, especially in mathematics. For example, in a week he studied the first six books of Euclid’s Elements. Hooke demonstrated considerable talent in other subjects. So, in addition to the then generally accepted Latin, he studied Greek and Hebrew, and also learned to play the organ.

In 1653 Hooke moved to Oxford, where he entered Christ Church College. He not only attended college, but also served as a church choir member. Admission to Oxford became the most important event in the life of a scientist. It was here that he first became acquainted with serious science and became passionate about it. Already in 1654, he became an assistant to the young but famous chemist and physicist Robert Boyle. The collaboration between two talented young people quickly turned into a friendship that they maintained until the end of their lives.

Soon Robert Boyle introduced his assistant to the activities of the Invisible College. Hooke even performed some organizational functions in it.

In 1662 he received the degree of Master of Arts. By this time, the young scientist had already made several significant discoveries and inventions. He published work on the movement of liquids through capillaries. Designed a new air pump. With the help of this pump, he discovered the law according to which, at a constant temperature, the product of pressure and the volume of a given mass of gas is constant. This law was published in Boyle's book. Although Boyle identified the true discoverer of the law, it is now known as the Boyle-Mariotte law. Also, many researchers consider Hooke's achievements during this period to include the invention of a clock mechanism using a spring. Nowadays it is difficult to say whether Hooke or Huygens has the priority of this invention.

Hooke's inventions and research, and his activities at the "Invisible College" made his name famous among scientists in England. Immediately after receiving his scientific degree, the young scientist was offered a position as a curator of experiments at the Royal Society of London, founded two years earlier. But Hooke’s activities were not limited to preparing and conducting experiments, especially at first. The fact is that by that time the Royal Society did not yet have a clear structure. Among Hooke’s many talents, organizational skills were not the least important. By 1663 he had written the Society's rules and was elected a member. Throughout almost his entire subsequent life, Hooke participated in the management of the Society’s work, determined the priorities of its activities, wrote research programs, and planned certain works.

In 1664, the scientist Hooke was invited to the position of professor at Gresham College, on the territory of which he received an apartment, where he lived until the end of his days.

Already in 1665, Hooke was confirmed for life in his position as curator of experiments of the Royal Society. It was not in vain that he received such an honor. Hooke was undoubtedly the most outstanding experimenter of his time. The curator's duties included regular weekly preparation and demonstration of experiments related to advances in various fields of natural science. Naturally, for such work, mere ingenuity was not enough. Deep knowledge was needed to keep track of the emergence of new theories, data and discoveries in various branches of science. Hooke's encyclopedic education, talent as an inventor and rare work ethic allowed him to cope with these difficult responsibilities perfectly for 35 years. Here is a quote from the History of the Royal Society: “Hooke performed before the Society an amazing variety of experiments, for example regarding the action of vacuum, the power of artillery gunpowder, and the thermal expansion of glass. Among other things, he showed the first real microscope and many discoveries made with its help, the first iris diaphragm and a whole series of new meteorological instruments.

In addition, Hooke conducted his own research, wrote scientific papers, taught, and consulted with manufacturers of various devices and instruments. He was engaged not only in scientific and pseudo-scientific activities. During the plague epidemic, most scientists hastened to move to the provinces, but Hooke remained in the capital. The restoration of the city was entrusted to the architect Christopher Wren, one of the leaders of the Royal Society and a friend of Hooke. The scientist, without abandoning his main responsibilities, took an active part in restoration work that lasted 4 years. During this period of time, Hooke slept on average 3-4 hours a day.

In 1665, he published an extensive work, Micrographia, in which he described his inventions in the field of improving optical instruments, mainly microscopes. Hooke can safely be called one of the founders of scientific microscopy. “Micrography,” in addition to the technical part, included detailed descriptions of 57 microscopic observations and 3 telescopic ones. The scientist studied the microstructure of animals and plants. Examining a thin section of cork under a microscope, he discovered the cellular structure of tissues. The term “cell” itself was also coined by Hooke. The scientist's astronomical discoveries include the discovery of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. Also in “Micrography” he presents the results of studying some fossils, which allows him to be called one of the founders of paleontology. “Micrography” was illustrated with engravings made by the author himself.

While acting as a curator of experiments, Hooke was constantly confronted with a wide range of scientific problems. New ideas often came to him, but being busy with other work did not always allow him to complete his research. Subsequently, this circumstance led to disputes between Hooke and his colleagues regarding the priorities of certain discoveries and inventions. He also often participated in scientific debates. A particularly difficult relationship developed between Hooke and Newton.

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