ABSTRACT
Who was Robert Hooke? He was an experimental philosopher, a City Surveyor and an assistant to Boyle. We may also characterize him as the author of Micrographia, discoverer of Hooke’s Law, restless genius, English Leonardo in the seventeenth century, the man who knew too much or who spent a curious life.1 Though not one of the above characteristics seems to be sufficient to cover Hooke’s overall activities, all scholars will agree with the fact that Hooke has been evaluated as a relentless but lesser enemy of Sir Isaac Newton. Michael Hunter and Simon Schaffer pointed out that it is a comparison from which Hooke has suffered to an undeserved extent, due not least to the almost God-like reputation accorded to Newton by many commentators.2 To save Hooke’s reputation, they emphasized that we should see his research in its proper context. But in what context? Their discussion remains rather vague here.
