ROBERT HOOKE'S CONTRIBUTION S TO MECHANICS
ROBERT HOOKE'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO MECHANICS A STUDY IN SEVENTEENTH CENTUR Y NATURAL PHILOSOPHY by F. F. CENTORE, PH. D. U. Springer-Science+Business Media, B.V. 1970
ISBN 978-94-017-5076-9 ISBN 978-94-017-5074-5 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-5074-5 1970 by Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Originally published by Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands in 1970. All rights reserved, including the right to translate or to reproduce this journal or parts thereof in any form
DEDICATION To My Parents Mr. and Mrs. Paul Centore
PREFACE In the history of science and philosophy and the philosophy of nature the name Robert Hooke has been largely ignored. H he is occasionally mentioned. it is usually in one of two ways: either he is briefly referred to in passing. or. he is viewed through the eyes of some later giant in the history of science and philosophy such as Sir Isaac Newton. Both approaches. however, do Hooke an injustice. In the academic world of today. there is no scholarly study available of Hooke's actual place in the history of science and philosophy with respect to his doctrines and accomplishments within the area of mechanics. Such a situation constitutes an unfortunate lacuna in the academic life of the world in our time. It is the more unfortunate because. in his time. Robert Hooke played an important role in the intellectual life of his world. Hooke. a contemporary of Boyle and Newton. lived from 1635 to 1703. For most of his active intellectual life he held the position of Curator of Experiments to the Royal Society of London. As a result of his own initiative and of directives given him by other members of the Society. Hooke performed hundreds of experiments designed to explore the secrets of nature so that men might better understand God's creation. In this treatise I will disengage from the large disorganized welter of monographs and treatises left by Hooke all the material pertinent to the science of mechanics. Fortunately, the vast majority of Hooke's writings on all subjects have been published in various forms so that the original sources are available for my use. It will be my task to gather and analyze all the pertinent information on this one aspect. mentioned above, of Hooke's variegated accomplishments in the hope that a fruitful synthesis of his work might be manifested. It is not my purpose to defend anyone thesis (although I do reach some general conclusions) or to produce an historical biography relating Hooke's personal development. Of course this must all be done within the context of Hooke's own time and circumstances. This means taking into consideration what influences the major earlier thinkers had upon Hooke's own views as well as how Hooke may have influenced those who came after him.
IIIV PREFACE Our purpose in this treatise, then, is to gain an appreciation of Robert Hooke, to see him in perspective. This means, within the restricted scope of this treatise, attempting to see with respect to the science of mechanics, as far as is possible, the world as Hooke saw it. To this end we have composed the chapters that are to follow. Chapter I is devoted to Hooke's life and the general atmosphere in which he worked. Chapter II becomes more detailed and gives us the foundation for our appreciation of Hooke. In it we show what Hooke both theoretically and actually thought of Francis Bacon and the Baconian philosophy of scientific methodology. In the light of Chapter II everything that follows will become to a great extent intelligible. Chapter III takes up what appears to have been, by way of Bacon and Boyle, Hooke's first love, the study of the mechanics of fluid bodies, especially the air. Chapter IV takes us into Hooke's mechanics of moving bodies on or near the surface of the earth. At this point we introduce the world view of Descartes which is needed to render Hooke's work completely intelligible. Descartes had proposed a view of nature which fitted Hooke's needs like a glove. In Chapter V we consider the motions of celestial bodies. We also examine, by means of comparison and contrast, Hooke's relationship to the Newtonian synthesis in mechanics. Finally, in Chapter VI we state what has been uncovered by our study; namely, that, on the negative side, Hooke the Baconian was greatly curtailed in his work on mechanics because he refused to give up his role as a philosopher of nature, while, on the positive side, Hooke must be revered as a great contributor to the development of science in general by his constant insistence upon the importance of experimentation. Let me take this opportunity to say that any faults the reader may find in this work are to be assigned to me, while what is worthwhile is to be credited directly to my colleague, Dr. John J. Coffey, professor of philosophy in st. John's University (New York). To him I express my gratitude for introducing me to Hooke, indicating the need for this study, guiding my research, and encouraging me to go on when I tended to become discouraged over some aspect of this study. For their valuable comments, Fr. P. Farrell, O. P. and Dr. A. Schrynemakers, both of the philosophy department, and Dr. E. Butkov, of the physics department, have my gratitude. My wife, Helen, is also deserving of thanks for her help in typing and proofreading. University of Waterloo Canada, 1970
TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE LIST OF DIAGRAMS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN FOOTNOTES VII XI XIII CHAPTER I: Hooke's Life and Times 1 1. Hooke's Early Life 1 2. Hooke's Oxford Days 2 3. Hooke and the Royal Society 4 4. Hooke's Denouement 11 5. Hooke's Works and Work 12 CHAPTER II: The New Experimental Philosophy 16 1. Baconian Induction 16 2. Hooke and Baconian Induction in Theory 20 3. Hooke and Baconian Induction in Practice 23 4. Hooke's Development of Baconian Induction 31 CHAPTER III: The Mechanics of Fluid Motions 41 1. The Legacy of Bacon and Boyle 41 2. Capillary Action (1661) 45 3. Fluid Pressure (1662) 48 4. The Springiness of Air (1660-1678) 51 5. "Boyle's Law" 58 6. The Debates of 1678 60 CHAPTER IV: The Mechanics of Terrestrial Local Motions 63 1. The Legacy of Descartes 63 2. The Properties of Falling Bodies 80 3. The Springiness of Matter 87
x T ABLE OF CONTENTS CHAP1ER V: The Mechanics of Celestial Local Motions 1. The Cause of Planetary Motions 2. The Cause of Gravitation 3. The Mathematics of Gravitation CHAP1ER VI: Hooke's Place in the History of Mechanics BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX 92 92 97 105 118 127 136
LIST OF DIAGRAMS Page Diagram Illustrating Hooke's Air Pump 43 Diagram Illustrating Hooke's Experiment on Capillary Action 47 Diagrams Illustrating Hooke's Experiments on Fluid Pressure 50 Diagram Illustrating Hooke's Argument for the Vast Extension of the Air ~ Diagrams Illustrating Hooke's Objections to Descartes' Vortex Theory 73 Diagram Illustrating Hooke's Theory of Colors 77 Diagrams Illustrating Hooke's Views 011 the Trajectory of Falling Bodies 109
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED IN FOOTNOTES A. L.; N. 0.: Bacon, Francis, The Advancement of Learning and Novum Organum (tr. and ed. by J. E. Creighton), Revised ed., New York, 1900. Boyle: Boyle, Robert, The Works of the Honourable Robert Boyle (ed. by Thomas Birch), 6 vols., London, 1772. Gunther: Gunther, R. W. T., Early Science in Oxford, 14 vols., Oxford. England, 1920-1945. Herive1: Herivel, John, The Background to Newton's Principia, Oxford, England. 1965. M.: Hooke. Robert, Micrographia, London, 1665. (Dover facsimile reproduction, New York, 1961.) More: More, Louis T.. Isaac Newton. New York, 1962. P. P.: Descartes, Rene, Principia Philosophiae, Amsterdam, 1644. (As contained in Rene Descartes: Philosophical Writings, tr. and ed. by E. Anscombe and P. T. Geach, Edinburgh, 1964.) P. W.: Hooke, Robert, The Posthumous Works of Robert Hooke (ed. by R. Waller), London, 1705. Sabra: Sabra, A. I., Theories of Light From Descartes to Newton. London, 1967.