Hooke, Robert

Hooke, Robert (1635–1703) The experimental philosopher Robert Hooke was active in many areas of science and made a number of significant contributions to the Earth sciences. He was the son of a clergyman, but because of his poor health was not educated for the Church, although he was able to take a degree at Oxford. He was closely associated with the Royal Society, holding for many years the office of Curator of Experiments as well as being a Fellow.

Hooke has been described as hurrying from one enquiry to another with ‘brilliant but inconclusive results’. He used a pendulum to measure the force of gravity, and his subsequent analysis of the movements of the Earth and Moon round the Sun provided the basis for the understanding of planetary movements. Among a host of other activities he observed comets, investigated the relation of barometric pressure to changes in the weather, discoursed on the effects of earthquakes, and put forward a correct interpretations of the nature of fossils and the succession of living things on the Earth. His Discourse on Earthquakes (1668) emphasized the striking results of earthquakes in modifying the surface of the ground and the Earth on a large scale—an aspect that was to influence Lyell's interest and investigations 180 years later. His experiments on elasticity led to the formulation of what is known today as Hooke's law, which describes the relation between stress and strain for a perfectly elastic material and has applications in structural geology.

D. L. Dineley