Robert Hooke , born the July 18th 1635 with Freshwater and dead the March 3rd 1703, is one of the largest experimental scientists of the 17th century and thus one of the key figures of the scientific revolution of the modern time.

In 1653, Hooke entered to Oxford where it met Robert Boyle of which he becomes the assistant. In 1660, it discovers the Loi of Hooke of elasticity, which describes the linear variation of tension with the extension. In 1662, Hooke is named demonstrator with the recently founded Royal Société, it is responsible for the experiments carried out at the meetings. In September 1664, it publishes its book, Micrographia , which contains many observations carried out using Microscope S and of Télescope S. Its contribution in Biologie is very important. One thus allots to him the first description of a biological Cellule made starting from the observation of plants. In 1665, it is named professor of Géométrie to the Université of Gresham.

Micrographie ( Micrographia ) becomes immediately a best-seller. The book presents its observations carried out using various lenses. Hooke describes a eye of Mouche and a vegetable Cellule. Its very beautiful engravings on copper are particularly spectacular. Its boards on the Insect S as well as the text contribute to promote the observations made using the new microscope. The boards on the insects are dépliables and of a format larger than the book, a folio. Even if this book is especially famous for its observations made using the microscope, Micrographie describes also remote planetary bodies, exposes a theory on the Lumière and shows the extent of the centers of interest of the author.

One often regards Hooke as the inventor of the compound microscope, an assembly of multiple lenses, usually three: an Ocular , a Lens of field and an objective . It thus gives many councils for the manufacture of the microscopes to manufacturing Cristophe Cock. But this attribution seems inaccurate because Zacharias Jansen had already built similar microscopes in 1590. Nevertheless, the microscopes of Hooke reached an enlargement of thirty times, which was largely higher compared to the preceding instruments.

Among its other achievements, it is necessary to announce the construction of the first telescope reflecting Grégorien and the discovery of the binary first star. It is interesting to note that he is the author of one of the first undulatory theory of the light.

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