Micrographia - Softcover

Hooke, R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1470079038 ISBN 13: 9781470079031

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012

Synopsis

Thank you for checking out this book by Theophania Publishing. We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you soon. We have thousands of titles available, and we invite you to search for us by name, contact us via our website, or download our most recent catalogues. Published under the aegis of The Royal Society, the popularity of the book helped further the society's image and mission of being the scientifically progressive organization of London. Micrographia also focused attention on the miniature world, capturing the public's imagination in a radically new way. This impact is illustrated by Samuel Pepys' reaction upon completing the tome: the most ingenious book that I ever read in my life. Hooke also selected several objects of human origin; among these objects were the jagged edge of a honed razor and the point of a needle, seeming blunt under the microscope. His goal may well have been as a way to contrast the flawed products of mankind with the perfection of nature (and hence, in the spirit of the times, of biblical creation) Hooke most famously describes a fly's eye and a plant cell (where he coined that term because plant cells, which are walled, reminded him of a monk's quarters). Known for its spectacular copperplate engravings of the miniature world, particularly its fold-out plates of insects, the text itself reinforces the tremendous power of the new microscope. The plates of insects fold out to be larger than the large folio itself, the engraving of the louse in particular folding out to four times the size of the book. Although the book is best known for demonstrating the power of the microscope, Micrographia also describes distant planetary bodies, the wave theory of light, the organic origin of fossils, and various other philosophical and scientific interests of its author.

About this title

About the Author

Robert Hooke (1635 – 1703) was an English natural philosopher, architect and polymath, best known for his discoveries and observations on biology. In his famous book, "Micrographia", he coined the word "cell" to name the smallest parts of any living organism, and inspired the use of microspcopes for scientific exploration. Based on his microscopic observations of fossils, Hooke was an early proponent of biological evolution.

Edition details

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1470079038
• ISBN 13: 9781470079031
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 490