Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of Robert Hooke (1635-1703) who worked for Robert Boyle and was curator of experiments at the Royal Society. The engraving of a flea, above, is taken from his Micrographia which caused a sensation when published in 1665. Sometimes remembered for his disputes with Newton, he studied the planets with telescopes and snowflakes with microscopes. He was an early proposer of a theory of evolution, discovered light diffraction with a wave theory to explain it and felt he was rarely given due credit for his discoveries.



With



David Wootton

Anniversary Professor of History at the University of York



Patricia Fara

President Elect of the British Society for the History of Science



And



Rob Iliffe

Professor of History of Science at Oxford University





Producer: Simon Tillotson



First broadcast on 18th February 2016