The Spectacle of Nature: Robert Hooke’s Micrographia
One of the most groundbreaking books in the formation of Western science is English polymath Robert Hooke’s Micrographia, printed in 1665 by John Martyn and James Allestry, printers to the Royal Society. It is considered to be the first major work on microscopy, the practice of using microscopes to view objects that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. There were new advancements in lenses during the 17th century which led to the development of optical instruments like telescopes and microscopes. The book was extremely popular and influential during Hooke’s life and continues to be through the present day.
Robert Hooke (1635-1703) was a founding member of The Royal Society, a British academic institution dedicated to the advancement of scientific knowledge. In 1662, Hooke was appointed “Curator of Experiments” to the Royal Society. Hooke was involved in many scientific debates during his day, and most notably accused his rival Isaac Newton of plagiarism. Hooke asserted that he was the first to publish the discovery of the inverse square law of gravitational attraction which was a theoretical cornerstone of Newton’s Principia Mathematica (which we hold at UW-Milwaukee Special Collections). While the scientific community sided with Newton, Hooke can still be credited with a number of mathematical and mechanical inventions, including Hooke’s Law, an equation that describes elasticity.
The book we are highlighting today is Robert Hooke’s Micrographia: or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses. With Observations and Inquiries Thereupon. It contains thirty-eight copperplate engravings based on Hooke’s own drawings from his observations made using a microscope. The illustrations range from detailed drawings of a flea, the eyes of a fly, blue mold, diamonds, ice crystals, and other minute specimens Hooke saw through a microscope. The book also includes astronomical observations of stars and moons made through use of a telescope.
