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Born in Freshwater, on the Isle of Wight, Hooke received his early education at Westminster School. In 1653, Hooke won a place at Oxford. There, he met Robert Boyle, and was employed as his assistant. In 1660, he discovered Hooke's law of elasticity, which describes the linear variation of tensionIn physics, tension is a force on a body directed to produce strain (extension); it can be considered to be negative compression. It is measured in according units ( newton, dynes, pound-forces, etc). Tension is the dominant static force acting on such ob with extension in an elasticThere are separate articles about elasticity in economics, and about British rubber bands. In solid mechanics, the adjective elastic characterises both collisions between, and deformations of, physical objects. A collision is perfectly elastic if the tota spring. In 1662Events March 18 Short-timed experiment of the first public buses holding 8 passengers begins in Paris May 3/ May 2 Catherine of Braganza marries Charles II of England as part of the dowry, Portugal cedes Bombay and Tangier to England May 9 Samuel Pepys wi, Hooke was appointed Curator of Experiments to the newly founded Royal SocietyThe Royal Society of London is claimed to be the oldest learned society still in existence and was founded in 1660. The Royal Irish Academy, founded in 1782, is also closely affiliated with it. The Royal Society of Edinburgh (founded 1783) is a separate S, and was responsible for experiments performed at its meetings. In 1665Events March 4 Start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War March 6 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society begins publication March 16 Bucharest allows Jews to settle in the city in exchange of annual tax of 16 guilders June 3 The Duke of York defeats the, he published a book entitled MicrographiaHooke's drawing of a flea Published September, 1664, Micrographia was an immediate bestseller. The book details the then twenty-eight year-old Robert Hooke's observations through various lenses. Hooke most famously describes a fly's eye and a plant cell (, which contained a number of microscopicA microscope is an instrument for viewing objects that are too small to be seen by the naked or unaided eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy, and the term microscopic means minute or very small, not and telescopicNice Observatory. A telescope is perhaps the most important astronomical tool; such technology gathers (and focuses) electromagnetic radiation. Telescopes increase the apparent angular size of objects, as well as their apparent brightness. Galileo Galilei observations, and some original biology. Indeed, the biological term cell is attributed to Hooke, which he coined because his observations of plant cells reminded him of monks' cells. Also in 1665, he was appointed Professor of Geometry at Gresham College.
Robert Hooke also achieved fame as the chief assistant of Christopher Wren helping to rebuild after the Great Fire of London in 1666. He worked on the Royal Greenwich Observatory, and the infamous Bethlehem Hospital , Bedlam.
He died in London. No surviving portrait of him is known, although one portrait of John Ray is claimed to be Robert Hooke by historian Lisa Jardine, and a seal used by Hooke displays a mans head that has been argued to be Hooke. Both claims are disputed, however.