Abstract
A REPRESENTATIVE Oxford gathering met in the Divinity School on November 20 to do honour to the memory of Robert Hooke of Christ Church, who was born three hundred years ago. Dr. R. T. Gunther, reader in the history of science, presided. The Warden of New College gave an address on the earliest ‘Oxford Movement’, that resulted in the formation of the Royal Society and, in particular, on the manifold activities in science and art of Hooke and Christopher Wren in London during the reign of Charles II. He pointed out why it was that the former, despite his many qualities, missed supreme greatness. Dr. Gunther spoke of Hooke's discoveries in mechanics, optics, biology and astronomy, and of his great inventive genius generally. Dr. Russell said what could be said of the work done in relating combustion and respiration to the gas afterwards named oxygen. Accounts were read of Hooke's activities in geology and other subjects. The Dean of Christ Church recalled in a witty speech some of the admirable qualities which Hooke showed as a man. He afterwards opened an exhibition devoted to Hooke's work, arranged by Dr. Gunther in one of the rooms of the Old Ashmolean Building. This contained early editions of the “Micrographia” including the beautiful original plates, books owned and annotated by Hooke, modern books about him, models of his microscope, of his mechanical inventions and of the apparatus he used in demonstrations. Particularly interesting was a photograph of the first foraminifer figured and described by Hooke in 1661. There was a nice collection of drawings and photographs of the buildings that Hooke had designed. Prof. F. Soddy had had prepared many models to illustrate different modern applications of Hooke's joint. He demonstrated their working to the visitors, and spoke of the applications of the joint made more than sixty years ago by Franz Reuleaux.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Commemoration of Robert Hooke at Oxford. Nature 136, 863 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/136863a0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/136863a0