#micrographia

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Bug Teeth - Micrographia

[newtonian-tragedy]

Micrographia Triptych by Erwin Huebner [a]

[futurebird]

A marvelous ant in Micrographia.(1665) The ant gave Robert Hooke a lot of trouble since it wouldn't quit moving around as he tried to draw it. He ended up dipping it in brandy, … though he does say that it woke back up and ran away. Gotta love this girl for surviving!

He supposes that the ant was drunk… But it probably was simply deprived of O2. I've seen ants who fell into water revive in a similar way when their spiracles (pores) dry off and they can breathe again.

[uwmspeccoll]

The Spectacle of Nature: Robert Hooke’s Micrographia 

One of the most groundbreaking books in the formation of Western science is English polymath Robert Hooke’s Micrographia, printed in 1665 by John Martyn and James Allestry, printers to the Royal Society. It is considered to be the first major work on microscopy, the practice of using microscopes to view objects that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. There were new advancements in lenses during the 17th century which led to the development of optical instruments like telescopes and microscopes. The book was extremely popular and influential during Hooke’s life and continues to be through the present day.  

Robert Hooke (1635-1703) was a founding member of The Royal Society, a British academic institution dedicated to the advancement of scientific knowledge. In 1662, Hooke was appointed “Curator of Experiments” to the Royal Society. Hooke was involved in many scientific debates during his day, and most notably accused his rival Isaac Newton of plagiarism. Hooke asserted that he was the first to publish the discovery of the inverse square law of gravitational attraction which was a theoretical cornerstone of Newton’s Principia Mathematica (which we hold at UW-Milwaukee Special Collections). While the scientific community sided with Newton, Hooke can still be credited with a number of mathematical and mechanical inventions, including Hooke’s Law, an equation that describes elasticity.

The book we are highlighting today is Robert Hooke’s Micrographia: or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses. With Observations and Inquiries Thereupon. It contains thirty-eight copperplate engravings based on Hooke’s own drawings from his observations made using a microscope. The illustrations range from detailed drawings of a flea, the eyes of a fly, blue mold, diamonds, ice crystals, and other minute specimens Hooke saw through a microscope. The book also includes astronomical observations of stars and moons made through use of a telescope.

Micrographia perfectly represents the spirit of the series “The Spectacle of Nature” because there is a true sense of wonderment in the illustrations. It is easy to imagine how dazzling it would be to see something new in nature, like the structure of a fly’s eye, which had previously been invisible to the naked eye.  Many of the illustrations fold out to be more than twice the size of the book, which only adds to the spectacular display.

I saw Micrographia in person at UW-Madison's Special Collections. Unfortunately, we do not have it here at UW-Milwaukee Special Collections, but we do have several microscopy books by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek who was greatly inspired by Hooke.  

There are several digitized copies of Micrographia online, including from the Biodiversity Heritage Library. There is an online version presented by the Royal Society that mimics the experience of flipping through the pages of Micrographia.

View more posts in The Spectacle of Nature series!

–Sarah, Special Collections Senior Graduate Intern

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Micrographia, by Hooke, Robert,; Jo. Martyn and Ja. Allestryc. 1665

[othmeralia]

It wouldn’t be Halloween without a few creepy-crawlies...and we’ve got creepy-crawlies in abundance, thanks to the first edition of Robert Hooke's seminal volume, Micrographia : or, Some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses. With observations and inquiries thereupon (1665).

Images from top (and all available for download from our Digital Collections):

Microscopic view of an ant or pismire

Microscopic view of mites

Microscopic view of a louse

Microscopic view of a blue fly

[abdulaziz2026]

رسم لنملة بالفحص المجهري Micrographia في عام 1665 ، بواسطة العالِم روبرت هوك.

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Engraving of an ant in Micrographia, 1665, by Robert Hooke.

[polyanthea]

Ernst Haeckel