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‘Jardine…has made important archival discoveries…her prose sparkles.’ Sunday Telegraph
‘Nobody can explain factual history more clearly than Jardine.’ The Times
‘Jardine sets out to penetrate the obscurity and show us the man…a fascinating, impeccably researched account.’ Jenny Uglow, Guardian
‘Lisa Jardine is a new star on England’s literary and historical scene. She has a gift, which so few historians possess, of making the past seem relevant to our own times.’ Paul Johnson
‘Not nearly as well known today as his close friend Wren of his bitter enemy Newton, Hooke did as much as either of them to define the intellectual character of his age.’ Sunday Times
Telegraph
'[Lisa Jardine's] highly readable account reveals a proud, impatient, brilliant man.'
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"On Saturday, 10 April 1697, a little less than five years before his death, Robert Hooke sat down with 'a small Pocket-Diary', specially purchased for the purpose, to write his autobiography: I began this Day to write the History of my own Life, wherein I " Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
"On Saturday, 10 April 1697, a little less than five years before his death, Robert Hooke sat down with 'a small Pocket-Diary', specially purchased for the purpose, to write his autobiography: I began this Day to write the History of my own Life, wherein I " Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Robert Hooke was very much a Renaissance man: artist, scientist, instrument-maker, and architect, he is remembered today only for Hooke's law which still forms the foundation of structural mechanics. However, he was at the time the major driving force behind the Royal Society. As its curator of experiments it was Hooke that both put forward the ideas to be tested and devised and built the equipment. He pioneered work in microscopy, made contributions in anatomy, changed the way we make clocks and watches and first put forward the idea that gravity obeyed the inverse square law. All this he did in his spare time between surveying London after the Great Fire and acting as an architect both in his own right and as Christopher Wren's chief assistant and friend.
This book vividly paints a picture of the life of this fascinating character. So lucidly is it written that one barely notices that it is brimming with fresh insights. An outstanding piece of scholarship and a brilliant piece of prose, this book is a must-have for anyone with an interest in the story of one of history's most colourful characters.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Professor Jardine does it again. She had a tougher task than with her equally scholarly and perhaps more enjoyable biography of Wren, On a Grander Scale: The Outstanding Career of Sir Christopher Wren, in that her protagonist is both less well known and less - well, likeable - than Wren. However, she succeeds in drawing a convincing picture of Hooke as an overworked, irascible, but thoroughly competent man, who to a large extent was the powerhouse behind so many of the scientific, technical and architectural achievements of the Restoration era.
Hooke provides a cautionary tale for workaholics and multitaskers everywhere; his masters at the Royal Society were staggeringly intolerant of his work for the Corporation of London. Yet if one looks at what was going on in the 1660s and 70s - whether the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire, or the unparalleled spirit of scientific enquiry within the Royal Society - and if one removes Hooke from the equation, it is difficult to see how any of it would have been achieved.
Hooke provides a cautionary tale for workaholics and multitaskers everywhere; his masters at the Royal Society were staggeringly intolerant of his work for the Corporation of London. Yet if one looks at what was going on in the 1660s and 70s - whether the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire, or the unparalleled spirit of scientific enquiry within the Royal Society - and if one removes Hooke from the equation, it is difficult to see how any of it would have been achieved.
16 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This biography falls short of Lisa Jardine's usual high standard. It needs a good edit and reorganization to provide form, remove repetition and add depth to a very haphazard account. Hooke's fascinating and varied life fails to come alive in these pages. For a man who never quite made the scientific impact he deserved, this biography shows a fitting symmetry and should also be overshadowed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
All you wanted to know about Robert Hooke
Very well written and full of background information about the exciting times Hooke lived in, as well as a great insight into the man himself. Read more
Published on 2 Aug 2009 by Geoffrey Lake
Disappointed reader
Having admired for a long time some of the theorems of Robert Hooke, and also being amazed of his diversity, I looked forward to reading this book. Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2006 by R. Sindelar
A great book about our most under-rated scientist
The word polymath was made for Robert Hooke. This man was prodigious and it is time he was given the accolades that he didn't receive during a lifetime overshadowed by the... Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2006 by Mr. K. Papas
Well Done Lisa
An excellent insight into the life of Robert Hooke. I have read a couple of biographies on Issac Newton, but only ever seen passing references to Hooke and his claims against... Read more
Published on 14 Dec 2004 by C. R. J. Hartman
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