In the history of science and philosophy and the philosophy of nature the name Robert Hooke has been largely ignored. If he is occasionally menยญ tioned, it is usually in one of two ways: either he is briefly referred to in passing, or, he is viewed through the eyes of some later giant in the history of science and philosophy such as Sir Isaac Newton. Both approaches, however, do Hooke an injustice. Tn the academic world of today, there is no scholarly study available of Hooke's actual place in the history of science and philosophy with respect to his doctrines and accomplishments within the area of mechanics. Such a situation constitutes an unfortunate lacuna in the academic life of the world in our time. It is the more unfortunate because, in his time, Robert Hooke played an important role in the intellectual life of his world. Hooke, a contemporary of Boyle and Newton, lived from 1635 to 1703. For most of his active intellectual life he held the position of Curator of Experiments to the Royal Society of London. As a result of his own initiยญ ative and of directives given him by other members of the Society, Hooke performed hundreds of experiments designed to explore the secrets of naยญ ture so that men might better understand God's creation. In this treatise I will disengage from the large disorganized welter of monographs and treaยญ tises left by Hooke all the material pertinent to the science of mechanics
CONTENT
I: Hooke's Life and Times -- 1. Hooke's Early Life -- 2. Hooke's Oxford Days -- 3. Hooke and the Royal Society -- 4. Hooke's Denouement -- 5. Hooke's Works and Work -- II: The New Experimental Philosophy -- 1. Baconian Induction -- 2. Hooke and Baconian Induction in Theory -- 3. Hooke and Baconian Induction in Practice -- 4. Hooke's Development of Baconian Induction -- III: The Mechanics of Fluid Motions -- 1. The Legacy of Bacon and Boyle -- 2. Capillary Action (1661) -- 3. Fluid Pressure (1662) -- 4. The Springiness of Air (1660โ{128}{147}1678) -- 5. โ{128}{156}Boyle's Lawโ{128}{157} -- 6. The Debates of 1678 -- IV: The Mechanics of Terrestrial Local Motions -- 1. The Legacy of Descartes -- 2. The Properties of Falling Bodies -- 3. The Springiness of Matter -- V: The Mechanics of Celestial Local Motions -- 1. The Cause of Planetary Motions -- 2. The Cause of Gravitation -- 3. The Mathematics of Gravitation -- VI: Hooke's Place in the History of Mechanics
