Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of Robert Hooke (1635-1703) who worked for Robert Boyle and was curator of experiments at the Royal Society. The engraving of a flea, above, is taken from his Micrographia which caused a sensation when published in 1665. Sometimes remembered for his disputes with Newton, he studied the planets with telescopes and snowflakes with microscopes. He was an early proposer of a theory of evolution, discovered light diffraction with a wave theory to explain it and felt he was rarely given due credit for his discoveries.
With
David Wootton Anniversary Professor of History at the University of York
Patricia Fara President Elect of the British Society for the History of Science
And
Rob Iliffe Professor of History of Science at Oxford University
Producer: Simon Tillotson.