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Hooke's Books: Books that Influenced or were Influenced by Robert Hooke's Micrographia banner

A portion of the title page of Robert Hooke's Micrographia with the words Hooke's Books underneath in brown letters. Diagram of Hooke's microscope with the words Micrographia underneath in brown letters. The engraved portrait title page of Antoni van Leeuwenhœk's Ontdeckte Onsigtbaarheeden with the words Hooke's influence underneath in brown letters.



Robert Hooke (1635-1703) was a remarkably versatile man — artist, biologist, physicist, engineer, architect, inventor, and more. However, his crowning glory was Micrographia: or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses, first published 1665. It was a masterpiece — an exquisitely illustrated introduction to the previously unknown microscopic world. This exhibit focuses on Hooke's influences and legacy in print, the pioneering books that stimulated Hooke's research, and the works he left for others — most famously the great Dutch microscopist, Antoni van Leeuwenhœk (1632-1723).

To see more digital images from Micrographia: or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies
made by Magnifying Glasses

please see http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/proj/ttp/books.htm

This web site was created to accompany an exhibition at the National Library of Medicine,
August 1 – November 1, 2007.

Curated by Stephen Greenberg.

Special Thanks to
National Library of Medicine
Rachael-Ray Cleveland, Jill Newmark, Michael Sappol

National Museum of Health and Medicine
Elizabeth Eubanks, Alan Hawk, Adrienne Noe

University of Virginia
Terry Belanger, Barbara Heritage