Robert Hooke,

You may not of heard of him, but he was an amazing guy.

No portrait survives of Robert Hooke, so I made a stencil of one of the more famous drawings he made with his improved microscope.


Hookes book, Micrographia, from which this drawing comes, was a best seller in its time.

“His name is somewhat obscure today, due in part to the enmity of his famous, influential, and extremely vindictive colleague, Sir Isaac Newton.”

Kinda like Tesla and Edison.

In list form, some of his more impressive achievements are:


-Anticipating the invention of the steam engine and the telegraph system.


-Improving early microscopes, and then coining the word “cell” after observing cells for the first time.


-”Invented the universal joint, the iris diaphragm, and an early prototype of the respirator; invented the anchor escapement and the balance spring, which made more accurate clocks possible.”


-”Worked out the correct theory of combustion, and discovered the role of oxygenation in the respiratory system.”


-”Devised an equation describing elasticity that is still used today (”Hooke’s Law”)”


-”Formulated a theory of planetary movement, which provided a basis for Sir Isaac Newton’s theories of gravitation.”