Robert Hooke Timeline

July 18, 1635 October 1648 1655 1658 1661

Born Freshwater,
Isle of Wight. Son of
The Rev John
Hooke and Cecily
Gyles. Robert
Hooke is intended
for the Church, but
headaches and a
sickly constitution
decree otherwise.
Occupies himself in
making mechanical
toys.
Death of John
Hooke. Robert
Hooke goes to
London as the pupil
of the painter Sir
Peter Lely, but is
allergic to the smell
of paint. Then
enters Westminster
School in the house
of Dr Busby.
Communicates
'artifices for flying'
to John Wilkins,
studies astronomy
with Seth Ward,
assist Thomas Willis
in Chemistry and is
recommended by
him to Robert
Boyle, and assists
Boyle in
construction of the
air pump.
Applied the circular
pendulum to
watches; refuses
terms of a patent
negotiated by
Boyle. Discovery
remains unknown
until 1675.
Publishes article on
capillary attraction,
later included in
Micrographia.

July 1664

September 17,
1664
March 12, 1666 July- October 1669 February 15, 1672
Found the number
of vibrations
corresponding to
musical notes.
Discovers fifth star
in the Orion
trapezium.
Drawings of Mars
enable its period of
rotation to be
found more than
200 years later.
Earliest attempt at
measuring the
parallax of a fixed
star - his results
lead to Bradley's
discovery of stellar
aberration.
Publishes paper on
diffraction of light,
objecting to
Newton's
communication on
this subject to the
Royal Society in
January.
1674 December 9&16,
1675
1679 1687 June 1696
Publishes 'An
Attempt to Prove
the Motion of the
Earth by
Observations'; this
records the first
observation of a
star in daylight.
Newton's
'Discourse on Color'
evokes that "the
main of it was
contained in
Micrographia.
Letter from Robert
Hooke to Newton
induces the latter
to 'resume his
former thoughts
concerning the
Moon'. This led to
protest from Hooke
that he 'gave
Newton the first
hint of this
invention'.
Grace Hooke, RH's
niece and
housekeeper dies,
which affects
Hooke's spirits
profoundly.
Royal Society offers
to pay for
experiments, but
Hooke's health is
failing. Chancery
suit over his salary
settled in his favor.


1702- 1703 March 3, 1703
Robert Hooke
becomes blind and
legs swell (which is
a sign of diabetes.
Robert Hooke dies
at Gresham
College; is buried at
St Helen's Bishops
gate.