An experimental 'Life' for an experimental life: Richard Waller's biography of Robert Hooke (1705)

British Journal for the History of Science
Noah Moxham

Abstract

Richard Waller's 'Life of Dr Robert Hooke', prefixed to his edition of Hooke's Posthumous Works (1705), is an important source for the life of one of the most eminent members of the early Royal Society. It also has the distinction of being one of the earliest biographies of a man of science to be published in English. I argue that it is in fact the first biography to embrace the subject's natural-philosophical work as the centre of his life, and I investigate Waller's reasons for adopting this strategy and his struggle with the problem of how to represent an early experimental philosopher in print. I suggest that Waller eschews the 'Christian philosopher' tradition of contemporary biography - partly because of the unusually diverse and fragmentary nature of Hooke's intellectual output - and draws instead upon the structure of the Royal Society's archive as a means of organizing and understanding Hooke's life. The most quoted phrase from Waller's biography is that Hooke became 'to a crime close and reserved' in later life; this essay argues that Waller's biographical sketch was fashioned in order to undo the effects of that reserve. In modelling his approach very closely on the structure of the society's records he was principal...Continue Reading

References

Dec 1, 1952·Isis; an International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences·A KOYRE

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Citations

Nov 4, 2017·The Veterinary Record·Rosanna M KirkwoodWendela Wapenaar
Jul 1, 2018·Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics·Lantz Fleming Miller

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