Robert Hooke Biography

Introduction

Robert Hooke was a renaissance scientist with a significant contribution to the scientific development. Hooke was born in Isle of Wight, England in 1635. He was the youngest child in the family of four children. Despite his delicate health, Hooke was born with an intriguing talent that won him his father's affection. In 1648, when he was 13, his father died leaving for him 40 pounds that he used to travel to London where he attended the Westminster School to learn Greek, Latin, science and mathematics (Shusaku, 2). In 1653, Robert Hooke attended the University of Oxford's Christ Church College to study the excremental science and become a chorister. His artistic talent and great scientific understanding earned him the recognition of Robert Boyles, who employed him as an assistant during his foundation of modern chemistry at Oxford's Christ Church College, during which Boyle discovered the Boyle's Law with equipment significantly developed by Hooke. Moreover, despite his young age, his dedicated work and substantial discipline earned him a position at the Royal Society in 1662, where he was appointed as the curator of experiments with the objective to developing and facilitating advance scientific understanding of the world (Shusaku, 2). As a curator, Hooke established an admirable scientific figure as he strived to eradicate the theoretical concept and predetermined notions ascribed to science while strictly focusing on the empirical evidence and explanations of diverse phenomena.

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Robert Hooke made a significant contribution in the science of astronomy through assisting in the building of the first Gregorian telescope. In 1664, he discovered, the fifth star in Trapezium commonly known as an asterism in the constellation Orion. He also discovered the Gamma Arietis in the northern constellation of Aries, which he ascertained was one of the first discovered double-star classification and the Great Red Spot a conspicuous oval-shaped feature in the southern hemisphere of Jupiter. Hooke first suggested that Jupiter rotates on its axis, which he determined after an analysis of the sketches and marks of Mars, which have survived for more than 200 years into the 19th century and have been in use in the determination of the rates of rotation of the planet. Moreover, he suggested that since the human eye could not distinguish between the arcs involved in the astrological planes, astronomers must adopt the telescopic sights to reduce the proportional uncertainty in the estimates of the celestial angles (Shusaku, 6). Through his progression lectures, Hooke encouraged the utilization of the improved astronomical instruments that included the use of a slow-motion screw with graduated head ensuring that the setting of the telescopic sight can be read to a second of arc. Therefore, Hooke has significantly influenced the contemporary use of innovated astronomic equipment.

Hooke also discovered and developed the Hooke's law, which states that for a relatively small object to deform, the displacement must be directly proportional to the distorting force or load. He laid the basis for the study of the stress and strain for the fundamental understanding of the elastic material. For instance, he established that pressure is the force on the unit area within a material that frequently develops as a result of an extremely applied force while strain encompasses the relative deformation of the generated stress (West, 230). Therefore, irrespective of the magnitude, the deformation force may be used to a solid through stretching, squeezing, bending compressing or twisting. Hooke established that the metal exhibits and elastic behavior since the minute increment on the length when stretched by an applied force doubles as the force applied also doubled. The improvement of the Hooke's law promoted the comprehensive understanding that drove and elevated the contemporary scientific developments. Therefore, the Hooke's law has significantly advanced the valid engineering application throughout its elastic range that yields below the stresses. It also greatly influences the objects like the trampoline.

In about 1657, through his invention of the anchor escapement, Hooke greatly improved the pendulum clock, which was characterized with a cog. The components and the mechanism introduced in the pendulum clock gave a minute push to each swing the pendulum took, averted it from degrading, falling or tripping while also facilitating constant movement of the hands of the clock forward. Further, in 1660, he established the balance spring, which was remarkable for accurate punctuality, reliability, regularity, and timelessness in pocket watches (West, 229). Nevertheless, since the pendulum could not be used in a pocket watch, so another technique of marking the time passage was adequately required. Hooke's balance spring accompanied the balance wheel and developed a regular oscillation that facilitated timeliness within experimental periods and social life. Hooke's inventions have greatly contributed to the accuracy and timely experiments that have facilitated the exposure to the conventional scientific revolutionized world enabling different individuals to operate in a functional and constructive manner.

In 1665, when Hooke was 30 years, he published the first ever scientific bestseller book, the Micrographia that portrayed his diverse understanding of the light and nature of scientific phenomena. It established an intriguing comprehension of instrumental development of Hooke's scientific and architectural skills and talents. Despite being a scientist and an architecture, a profession that saw numerous constructions designed and developed by Robert Hooke (Aniruth, np). Unlike previous centuries when people required to move the specimen to get it in focus Hooke ensured an advanced microscope with lighting that allowed scientists to illuminate the specimens. He placed a water-lens next to the microscope that propelled the focus of the light from an oil-lamp on to his specimens to brightly and largely magnify them. He further utilized the microscope to discern minute details of the specimens that are frequently hidden from the conventional sight within the natural world. His book Micrographia exposed and elaborated his discoveries and inventions, which has continued to influence the current understanding in the scientific revolution. The book significantly impacted the contemporary human knowledge of quantum physics, microbiology, and nontechnology. Additionally, in 1665, Hooke discovered the first acknowledged microorganisms, the microscopic fungi that he used to develop the theoretical framework of the cell mutilation (Aniruth, np).

Along with Robert Boyle, Hooke conducted numerous experiments on the properties of air discovered many of its physical characteristics. For instance, he established that air has many properties such as respiration, combustion, and transmission of sound. When Boyles published his book on the pneumatics and the vacuum, Hooke played a significant role in developing, facilitating, and operating the vacuums pump and the experimental apparatus for measuring and estimating the spring of air (Aniruth, np). Also, Hooke was the first to suggest that air act as spring after severally measuring the volume of air in a tube of constant diameter and further in the linear measurement. Moreover, he established that air as a matter expands when heated and that it is made of small particles separated by relatively large distances. For instance, through bombardment movement of the molecules within the air particles, it expands when subjected to heat. Therefore, the invention of Hooke's Law has initiated diverse understanding and comprehension of the conservation of the mechanical energy and invention of unique springs that can succumb to a great number of forces.

Works Cited

West, John B. "Robert Hooke: early respiratory physiologist, polymath, and mechanical genius." Physiology 29.4 (2014): 222-233.

Anirudh A. Robert Hooke's ten major contributions to science. Newtonic. 2016. Available at < https://learnodo-newtonic.com/robert-hooke-contribution > accessed on 11th November 2018.

Shusaku Horibe. Robert Hooke, Robert Hooke's Law and the watch spring. Ships education. 2011. Available at < http://shipseducation.net/modules/phys/hooke/hooke.pdf >accessed on 11th November 2018.