The Incredible, Invisible World of Robert Hooke

摘要

It is time to celebrate. The first popular science book in the world is 350 years old this year - and it was a volume devoted to the world of the microscope, aptly titled Micrographia. Our modern era is dominated by the indulgent irrelevance of fairytale physics that no one understands, so a hands-on, relevant subject like microscopy attracts little popular interest. Back in the intellectual dynamism of the 17th century, microscopy was a major talking point. The book's author was a multi-talented pioneer named Robert Hooke. What a series of paradoxes he poses. Hooke was born on the tiny Isle of Wight, yet became one of the greatest figures of early science. In spite of it all, he was destined to be forgotten by the world at large. Hooke was a drug addict who had an affair with his teenage niece, wrote extensive personal papers that were believed lost forever (they recently turned up in the back of a cupboard in a handsome house in Hampshire) and was satirized on the stage. When a popular biography was recently published with his portrait on the cover, the picture turned out to be of someone else entirely. Hooke's life is one of perplexity and confusion.