Getting to know Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke was a British physicist who was born in 1635 on the Isle of Wright, England. The English scientist is best known for being the first human being to use the word “cell” to describe the microscopic structures of a cork. Additionally, Robert came up with the law of elasticity—Hooke’s law. An early scientist who researched and experimented widely, Robert Hooke studied mechanics and classics at Westminster School in London. Later on, he joined Oxford and became Thomas Willis’ assistant, a physician and a founding member of the Royal Society. In addition, Robert worked with Robert Boyle who made new discoveries on gases.
Robert Hooke’s works
Robert’s works aren’t as famous as those of his fellow scientists. However, he is widely remembered and recognized for discovering cells and pores. Robert looked at a slice of cork via a microscope and found out that it had cells in it. He thought that the cells he saw were containers that contained some fibrous threads or noble juices of a cork tree that was once alive. As well, Robert Hooke thought that these cells were only found in plants, a conclusion he drew because his fellow scientists had observed the same thing.
These observations were published in the first book (Micrographia) that describes observations made via a microscope. Hooke’s studies about microscopic fossils made him one of the early supporters of evolution theory. In 1666, Robert was of the opinion that the force of gravity could be gauged by using the motion of a pendulum. What’s more, he tried to demonstrate that the earth and the moon follow an elliptical path when moving around the sun. In 1672, Hooke discovered the bending of light rays around corners (diffraction) and used the wave theory of light to explain this phenomenon.
In 1678, Robert described the planetary movements using the inverse square law. This law was later used by Newton and brought about a disagreement between the two early scientists. Lastly, Hooke became the first person to generally state that all matter expands when it gets heated and that air consists of particles that are divided by pretty big distances. Robert Hooke had no spouse or kids when he died in 1703.