Out of the Shadow of a Giant

by John Gribbin

  Halley senior, Edmond 112, 113, 118, 133, 134, 184, 185–7

  Halley, Mary 273

  Hambly, Edmund 81

  Harrison, James 272

  Harrison, John 272–3

  Harrison, Lieutenant Edward 243, 245–7

  Harvey, William 8

  Harwood, John 44

  Hatton, Viscount 262–3

  Hearne, Thomas 271

  heat and combustion theories xii, 50–1, 58, 154

  Henrietta, Queen of England 60

  Hevelius, Johannes (Johannes Höwelke) 40, 89, 94, 109, 116, 124–9, 132, 135, 157–8, 187–8, 202–3, 266, 276

  High Altitude Observatory, US National Center for Atmospheric Research 280–1

  Hill, Abraham 138, 197–8

  Hipparchus 267, 268

  History and Philosophy of Earthquakes, from the Remotest to the Present Times: Collected from the best Writers on the Subject (Anon.) 230

  Holmes, Mary 86, 86n

  Holmes, Sir Robert 85, 86

  Hooke, Cecellie 2, 62

  Hooke, Grace 83–7, 86n, 89, 137, 139, 143, 176, 210, 217

  Hooke, John (father of Robert Hooke) 1–2, 3–4, 5, 83

  Hooke, John junior (brother of Robert Hooke) 2, 84, 85–6, 139

  Hooke, Robert: adventurer and explorer, interest in life as an 25–6, 209; air pump and 15–18, 28, 32–4, 50, 51; alloys, prepares and measures density of 152; ‘An Attempt to Prove the Motion of the Earth’ lecture (1670), published (1674) 146n, 163–4, 164n, 166; ‘Animadversions on the first part of the Machina Coelestis’ lecture (1674) 124–5, 157–8; apprentice to the studio of portrait painter Peter Lely, Covent Garden 4–5; arch, investigates best possible shape for 79–81; architectural, building and surveying work xiii, 7, 33, 65–81, 68n, 72n, 77n, 87, 95, 97–8, 100, 108, 110, 113, 116, 131, 135, 136, 137, 139, 143, 152, 157, 213–14, 215, 235; atmospheric circulation, develops model of 189, 230–1; barometers, work with 18–19, 36n, 37, 78, 142, 157; biblical Flood, attempts to explain 3, 193, 223–4, 226, 228, 231–2; birth and childhood xii, xv, 1–4, 5, 219; blood transfusion experiments 63; Boyle, first introduced to 11–12, 14–15; Boyle, assistant to xiii, 14–20, 23, 24, 26, 29, 37; Boyle’s Law’ of gases, discovers xiii, 18–20, 24; burial 217–18; calculating machine, work on 103; capillary action, publishes first scientific paper on (1661) 26, 28; carriage design 61; Catalogue of the Southern Stars (Halley), describes to Royal Society 122; character 88–90, 212–14; coffee, addiction to 11, 88, 90; coffee house meetings 31, 72, 88, 89–90, 143, 154, 173, 175, 210, 211, 212, 215; centripetal gravitational attraction idea and 43, 146, 147, 150, 151, 165, 169, 170, 172, 173, 175–6, 177, 177n, 183, 275, 282; churches, rebuilding of London’s 73–5; clocks, watches and timekeeping, interest in 2, 11, 20, 21–4, 38, 60, 63, 92–3, 93n, 99, 100, 120, 135–6, 139, 140, 142, 160, 224; clothes/appearance 87–8, 211; comet observations 40–1, 43, 130, 131, 134, 136, 153, 165, 175, 176, 202; Cutlerian Lectures 30–2, 39, 53, 65, 81, 89, 124–5, 136, 136n, 146n, 155, 163, 216, 263 see also under individual lecture name; daily life 87–90; deep wells experiments into gravity, Durdans (1665) 61–2; depth sounder, invents 38, 98; diaries 31, 71, 72, 80, 81, 82, 83, 83n, 84, 85, 86n, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 99, 100, 105, 110, 112, 121, 128, 129, 136, 142, 154, 156, 167n, 195, 206, 211, 212, 214, 215, 240; dies 217, 259n; ‘Discourses on Earthquakes’ lectures (published posthumously as A Discourse on Earthquakes) 3, 62, 218–22; dissection, learns 10; diving experiments 39; Doctor of Physick (Medicine) degree awarded by University of Oxford 214; Earth, theories on history of xiii, 218–35; Earth, views on shape of 224–5; earthquakes, study of xiii, 3, 54, 62, 95, 216, 218–19, 221–2, 221n, 223, 225, 228–30, 229n, 234; ‘England’s Leonardo’ xii; experiments on self 33–4; eye, studies structure of 154; falling objects, measurements using (1663) 160; falling objects, measures speed of 160–2; family see under individual family member name; father’s death and inheritance 3–4, 5; Fleet Stream, restoration of 72–3; flying, interest in 6–7, 11, 20, 24, 88, 159–60; fossils, interest in/ideas concerning xiii, 3, 51–3, 62, 210, 218–35; gange and 214; geology, interest in/vision of processes 3, 51–4, 56, 62, 210, 218–35; Glorious Revolution, on 211; Grace Hooke and see Hooke, Grace; gravitation, Observation 60 of Micrographia (Of the Moon) suggests universal principle of 56–7, 162; gravity, childhood interest in 159–60; gravity, early investigations into nature of 41–3, 55–8, 61–2, 160–2; gravity, exchange of letters with Newton (1679–80) outlines ideas on 145–52, 165–6; gravity, lecture to Royal Society (21st March, 1666) on 41–2; gravity, lecture to Royal Society (23rd March, 1666) on and ‘Inflexion of a Direct Motion into a Curve by a Supervening Attractive Principle’ paper 42–3; gravity, Newton’s use of ideas concerning see Newton, Sir Isaac; gravity, plague and fire interrupt experiments 162; gravity experiments at St Paul’s Cathedral (1664) 160–2; gravity, universal theory of and xii, xiv–xv, 11, 21, 41–3, 55–7, 61–2, 134, 136–7, 143–51, 144n, 147n, 152, 153, 156–7, 158, 159–78, 183, 189, 224, 275, 282; Great Fire of London and 64–5, 76, 162, 163; Great Red Spot of Jupiter, discovers 55, 63; Gresham Professor of Geometry 29–32, 37, 39, 40, 43, 54, 59, 62, 65, 68, 70, 75, 78, 82, 88, 89, 100, 136n, 152–3, 154, 228; Halley, first meetings with 110; Halley, meets after St Helena trip 121; heart and lungs contribution to workings of body, experiments on 92; heat and combustion theories xii, 50–1, 58, 154; Hevelius, dispute with over open versus telescopic sights 124–6, 128, 135, 158, 187–8; hollow glass ball experiments 33, 35; household 82–7; Hunt, relationship with 211; Huygens, row with over chronometer xiii, 22–3, 24, 93, 99–100; ice studies 155–6, 250; ideal way to carry out scientific investigations, sets out 283–5; inverse square law of gravity and xiv, 11, 21, 134, 137, 143–5, 150–1, 153, 156–7, 164–7, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 176, 177, 191, 202, 270, 275, 282; Knox friendship 154; Lagos disaster (1693) and 206; lead and gold, mixing of/concept of atoms and 93–4; light and optics, work on xii, 47–50, 58, 95, 98–108, 135; longitude problem and 11, 21–2, 60, 61, 92; love life 83–7, 86n, 89, 137, 139, 143, 176, 210, 211, 217; lunar cratering and shape of moon, work on 55–7; mapmaking, interest in 142, 152; Mars, measures rotation of 63; medicine taker 90–2, 214; Micrographia xiii, 19, 20, 34, 43–58, 47n, 57n, 59, 95, 96, 104–5, 141, 162, 219, 228, 234; microscope pioneer xiii, 36n, 43–4, 45, 47, 48, 138–9, 214; Microscopium (1678) 138–9; momentum experiments 95, 160; Monument, London and 76–8, 77n, 78, 81; nematodes, discovery of 58; Newton and see Newton, Sir Isaac; Newton’s First Law (rule that every object moves in a straight line unless acted on by some outside force) and xii, xiv–xv, 41, 43, 145–52, 162–3, 177; Oldenburg feud see Oldenburg, Henry; On Gravity (1666) 62, 162–3; Oxford University, attends xii–xiii, 7–8, 10–11; parallax effect and 146n, 163–4, 164n, 166; Pepysian Library design 137; ‘Picture-Box’, invents 216; planetary orbits, interest in xiv, 57, 136–7, 143, 150–1; polar wandering, ideas about 223, 230; The Posthumous Works of Robert Hooke (ed. Waller) 1, 2, 5, 6, 17–18, 23, 67, 87, 90, 144n, 176–7, 210, 212, 216, 217–18, 228; pressure, density and convection, investigations into 35–6; printing press based on revolving cylinders idea 142; quadrant, invents 39–40, 143; Ragley Hall design 152; rebuilding of City of London, involvement in xiii, 66, 67, 68–81, 68n, 72n, 77n, 143; relative achievements of Halley, Newton and 282; respiration experiments 34–5, 154; Royal Observatory, Greenwich, role in birth and building of 108–10, 116; Royal Society Council, member of 155, 157, 212, 215, 216; Royal Society Curator of Experiments xiii, 28–43, 44, 50, 69, 89–90, 92, 93, 94–5, 136, 138, 153, 155, 157, 283; Royal Society establishment and 26–8; Royal Society salary, increase in (1687) 210, 210n; Royal Society, elected Fellow of 29; Royal Society, portrait disappears from 183; Royal Society, Secretary of 137, 138, 143, 145, 153, 154, 155; Savart’s wheel and 154; scientific legacy 218–35; sextant, invents 63–4, 64n; single-lens microscopes, makes 138–9; springs, theory of/Lectures De Potentia Restititutiva: or of Spring (1678) v, 139–42, 146; St Paul’s Cathedral, rebuilding, role in
80–1, 143; stoop 2, 6; telescopic sights in quadrants, Halley acknowledges Hooke’s primacy in using 212–13; ‘terraqueous globe’ idea 226–9; terrestrial equatorial bulge idea 120, 176, 213, 223, 224–5; underwater sample bucket idea 39; vivisection, squeamishness about 34–5, 92; watch, spring-driven 21, 22–4, 93, 99, 135–6, 139–41, 160; wealth, architectural work and 69, 72, 76; weather forecasting experiments 35–7, 142, 157; weighing machine, demonstrates 155; Westminster School xii, 5–7, 10; wheel design and friction, study of 155; ‘wheelhorse’ (velocipede) 136; Wren, friendship with see Wren, Sir Christopher

  Hornsby, Thomas 279

  Horrocks, Jeremiah 40, 275, 276

  Hoskins, John 2, 4, 158, 173, 174, 175, 188

  Houghton, James 200

  Hunt, Harry 83, 87, 143, 211

  Hutton, James 219, 229, 229n, 230; Theory of the Earth 229

  Huygens, Christiaan xiii, 22, 23, 24, 93, 99, 99n, 100, 103, 134, 146, 169, 181, 213

  Huygens, Constantijn 181

  Inwood, Stephen 75, 151–2

  Isle of Wight xii, 1–4, 26, 40n, 52, 62, 83, 84, 85, 86, 86n, 137, 219, 231–2

  James II, King of England 157n, 179, 180, 181, 184, 185, 186, 193, 205, 211

  Jardine, Lisa v, vi, xii, 3n, 4, 14–15, 69, 76, 82, 85, 89, 90, 90n, 92, 100, 217, 235

  Jefferies, Judge 180

  Jeffery, Paul: The City Churches of Sir Christopher Wren 75

  Jermyn (or Jerman), Edward 67, 68, 70

  Jonathan’s coffee house, London 72, 88, 210, 211, 212

  Jones, Richard 98

  Jupiter: comets, influence upon 203, 204, 273; Great Red Spot of 55, 63; Moon position and 189; moons of 21; orbit of 113, 122

  Kepler, Johannes 121, 136, 137, 156, 266, 275–6, 279; First Law 172

  Knox, Robert 154, 213, 214, 216, 217; Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon 154

  Lagos disaster (1693) 205–6, 207

  Lalande, Jérôme 274, 274n, 279

  Laplace, Pierre 154

  Lavoisier, Antoine 154

  Lawrence, Sir John 30, 59–60, 67, 73

  Leeuwenhoek, Antoni van 54–5, 138–9

  Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm 103, 181, 201n

  Lely, Peter 4–5, 4n

  Lepaute, Mme Nicole-Reine Étable de la Brière 274

  light and optics xii, xv, 47–50, 51, 58, 95, 98–108, 135, 144, 147, 153, 179, 183, 239

  Lister, Martin 139

  longitude 11, 21–2, 60, 61, 63, 64, 93, 109–10, 121n, 132, 134, 194, 244, 246, 247, 248, 272–3, 278

  London: rebuilding of after Great Fire (1666) xiii, 65–81, 68n, 72n, 77n, 143

  Lower, Dr Richard 92; De Corde (On the Heart) 92

  Lyell, Charles 229, 229n, 230

  Magalotti, Lorenzo 93

  Mars 63, 116

  Mary, Queen of England 180, 182, 212

  Mason, Charles 277–8

  Maunder Minimum 281

  McCray Beier, Lucinda 90, 91

  Mead, Richard 271

  Merchant Taylor’s School, Suffolk Lane, London 75

  Mercury, transits of 120–1, 121n, 275, 276, 277, 281

  Messier, Charles 274

  microscopes xiii, 36n, 43–4, 45, 47, 48, 50, 54–5, 138–9, 214, 215

  Middleton, Benjamin 240, 241, 242

  Middleton, Colonel Thomas 240

  Mills, Peter 67, 68, 69, 70, 71

  Milt, Clara de xii, 51

  Moivre, Abraham de 171, 171n

  Molyneux, William 128–9, 186, 205

  Montagu House, Bloomsbury, London 75

  Montagu, Charles 205

  Montmort, Rémond de 269

  Monument, the, London 76–8, 77n, 81

  Moon: eclipses of 21, 115, 132, 200, 213; Micrographia Observation 60 (Of the Moon) 56–7, 162; Saros cycle 272; speed of orbit linked to tidal influences 199–200

  Moorea 279

  Moray, Sir Robert 23, 24, 27, 28, 97

  More (or Moore), Sir Jonas 109, 110, 119, 121, 143

  Nauenberg, Michael 150

  Neale, Thomas 182

  Nelson, Robert 129–30, 132, 133

  Newton, Humphrey 170

  Newton, Sir Isaac v, vi, xi, 100, 100n; An Attempt to Prove the Motion of the Earth (Hooke) and 146n, 163–4, 164n, 166; ‘by standing on the shoulders of giants’ comment xi, 107, 108; calculus and 181, 201–2, 201n; Cambridge University and xii, xv, 29, 41, 58, 95, 97, 97n, 105, 114, 134, 168, 170, 171, 172, 174, 179–81, 182, 187; Catholicism at Cambridge University, role in resistance to imposition of (1687) 180; centripetal gravitational attraction idea and 43, 146, 147, 150, 151, 165, 169, 170, 172, 173, 175–6, 177, 177n, 183, 275, 282; character xv, xvn, 96–7, 97n, 146, 158; cometary orbits and 130, 170, 176, 183, 191, 192, 201–5, 273–4, 275; De Motu Corporum in Gyrum (On the Motion of Bodies in Orbit) 172, 172n, 173, 187; development of science in Britain without life of v; dies 183; equatorial bulging of Earth idea and 176, 213, 224, 225; faked letter (1673) to Oldenburg outlining idea of centripetal gravitational attraction 169; falling apple story (1665) invented to bolster false claim of primacy over idea of universal gravity xii, 167–70; Fatio and 181–2; Flamsteed row (1711) 264–5; Genesis story and Earth’s rotation, ideas concerning 220; gives up natural philosophy 146, 147; gravity theories xii, xiv–xv, 41–3, 57, 62, 134, 137, 143–52, 144n, 147n, 153, 156–7, 158, 159, 163, 164, 164n, 165–78, 177n, 183, 189, 191, 202, 204, 222, 275, 282 see also under individual theory name; Halley and Hooke in shadow of v–vi, xi, 235; Halley, first meets 130; Halley meeting with (1684) 134, 157, 170–2, 187; Halley role in publication of Principia xiv, xv, 128, 172–7, 173n, 184, 187, 189–93, 205; Halley, Hooke and Wren request explanation of why planetary orbits seem to be governed by inverse square law xiv, 134, 156–7, 170–2, 187, 282; heat and combustion, lifts theory from Hooke xii, 51; Hevelius comments influence opinion of Hooke (1685) 158; Hooke, attempt to write out of history xi–xii, xiv–xv; Hooke diffraction experiment, Royal Society (1675), dismisses 104; Hooke, exchange of letters with (1679–80) triggers development of Newtonian physics 145–52, 174; Hooke, meetings with (1689) 213; Hooke outlines ideas of gravity and motion in letter to (1679–80) xii, 41, 145–52, 165–6, 169, 174; Hooke’s treatment of Earth as simply a planet and 222; Humphrey Newton and 170; inverse square law of gravity and xiv, 134, 137, 150–3, 156–7, 165–7, 170–2, 173, 174, 176, 177, 178, 187, 191, 202, 275, 282; knighthood 182–3; light and colour theories, Hooke and xii, 47–8, 50, 58, 95, 98–108, 135; Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, Cambridge 29; Member of Parliament 180–1, 182–3, 213; Micrographia and 47, 48, 50, 51, 57, 57n, 58, 95, 96, 104–5; nervous breakdown (1693) 182; Newton’s First Law and xii, xiv–xv, 41, 43, 145–52, 162–3, 177; ‘Newton’s rings’ and 48; Oldenburg fans flames of dispute with Hooke 98–102, 104–5; Opticks 51, 179, 183, 239; planetary motion ideas prior to receipt of Hooke’s letter outlining his theories xii, 166–7, 169, 170; Principia xiv, xv, 128, 150n, 164, 170, 172–8, 181, 183, 184, 187, 189–93, 201, 202, 202n, 205, 209, 224, 225; Principia, life after 179–81; reflecting telescope and 95–8; relative achievements of Hooke, Halley and 282; Royal Society, absence from during Hooke’s life and increasing presence at after death 213; Royal Society, elected as Fellow of 97;

  Royal Society, President of 183, 263, 264; sextant, claim to have invented 64; Warden of the Royal Mint 182 205–7, 238; Wickins and 170

  Newton’s First Law (rule that every object moves in a straight line unless acted on by some outside force) and xii, xiv–xv, 41, 43, 145–52, 162–3, 177

  Nine Years’ War (1688–97) 207, 242, 277

  Nottingham, Earl of 259, 260, 261, 262–3

  Oldenburg, Henry 53, 54, 60, 60n, 66–7, 69, 82, 89, 89n, 93, 94, 95, 98–100, 101, 102, 104–6, 117, 126, 135, 136, 137, 139, 145, 147, 166–7, 169, 176, 228

  Oliver, John 69, 71, 72, 74

  ‘open sight’ instruments 124–6, 128, 135, 158, 187–8

  Oregon State University 218

  Oxford University xii–xiii, xiv, 2, 5, 6–12, 14–15, 17, 20
, 26–7, 28, 40, 98, 109, 113–17, 192, 197–8, 214, 237, 261, 262–4, 270, 271, 273

  Paget, Edward 174

  Palitzsch, Georg 274

  Papin, Denis 153, 156, 157

  parallax effect 78, 120–1, 163–4, 164n, 276, 277

  Paramore 207, 209, 236, 240–57, 241n, 249n

  Paris Observatory 130, 274

  Pepys, Samuel xiii, 40, 46, 46n, 60, 63, 82, 85, 111, 112, 113, 137, 188, 193, 208, 214, 238, 240, 247, 253, 259n

  Pepysian Library, Magdalene College, Cambridge 137

  Périer, Florin 18

  Peter the Great, Tsar 207–8, 207n, 208n, 242, 257

  Petty, Sir William 60, 61

  Philip V, King of Spain 257

  Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 116, 124, 157–8, 188, 192–3, 201, 254, 266, 267, 269

  Pitt, Moses 139, 142

  plague see Great Plague (1666)

  Playfair, John: Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth 229, 230

  Plymouth Docks 215

  polar wandering 223, 230

  Pope, Dr Walter 29

  Power, Henry 61

  printing press 142

  Ptolemy 267

  quadrant 39–40, 63, 64n, 94, 114, 143, 212

  Ragley Hall, Warwickshire 76, 152

  Ramsbury Manor, Wiltshire 76

  Ranelagh, Katherine Boyle, Viscountess 13, 87, 98

  Raspe, Rudolf Erich 228–9, 230

  Ray, John 226–7; Miscellaneous Discourses Concerning the Dissolution and Changes of the World 227

  Reeve, Richard 44, 96

  respiration experiments 34–5, 154

  Restoration (1660) xiv, xv, 23, 24, 26, 85, 112

  Richer, Jean 224, 225

  Robinson, Mary 83

  Robinson, Tancred 157, 158, 188

  Robison, John 51

  Royal African Company 237, 248, 252