Product Description

Robert Hooke was one of the most inventive, versatile and prolific scientists of the late 17th Century, but for 300 years his reputation has been overshadowed by those of his two great contemporaries, his friend Sir Christopher Wren and his rival Sir Isaac Newton. If he is remembered today, it is as the author of a law of elasticity or as amisanthrope who accused Newton of stealing his ideas on gravity.

This book, the first life of Hooke for nearly fifty years, rescues its subject from centuries of obscurity and misjudgement. It shows us Hooke the prolific inventor, the mechanic, the astronomer, the anatomist, the pioneer of geology, meteorology and microscopy, the precursor of Lavoisier and Darwin. It also gives us Hooke the architect of Bedlam and the Monument, the supervisor of London's rebuilding after the Great Fire, the watchmaker, the consumer of prodigious quantities of medicines and purgatives, the candid diarist, the lover, the hoarder of money and secrets, the coffee house conversationalist. This is an absorbing study of a fascinating and unduly forgotten man.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51607 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

About the Author

Dr Stephen Inwood was born in London in 1947, and was educated at Dulwich College and at Balliol and St Antony's College, Oxford. For twenty-six years he was a college and university history lecturer, but he became a professional writer in 1999, after the publication of A History of London. He also holds posts at Kingston University and at New York University in London. He lives in Richmond, west London, with his wife and three sons.

Customer Reviews

Interesting subject
Clearly there's a lot people don't know about Hooke or this book would never have been written. A lot is made of his bad character, but what seems to come out is his pride in his ability, and the many friends he did make who stayed with him throughout his life.

It's an interesting story and the book holds your interest, although the timelines do jump about a bit which can be confusing. There's not a lot of science in it, and it focusses much more on Hooke the person. There's some interesting details on life in 17th century London too.

Overall, a good read.

Great insight into life in Hooke's time
Found it is great introduction to what life was like for a great scientist at a most interesting time in the history of England, London and science. Covers Hooke's role in the rebuilding of London after the great fire, his work for the Royal (and not so Royal during the republican period) Society.

Relatively easy reading, and I keep find I'm referring back to things I read in this book. A book I wouldn't have bought for myself, but thoroughly enjoyed it.

How can you know too much?
Stephen Inwood's book is superb (in my opinion).
I wanted to learn about the life of an intellectual in the seventeenth century, and I was not disappointed. The author describes the many dificulties faced by this "strange" man, and the efforts he went to in order to overcome them.
There are so many books that everybody must read; this is one of them.