Micrographia
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Published September, 1664, Micrographia was an immediate bestseller. The book details the then twenty-eight year-old Robert Hooke's observations through various lenses. Hooke most famously describes a fly's eye and a plant cell (where he coined that term). Known for its spectacular copperplate engravings of the miniature world, particularly its fold-out plates of insects, the text itself reinforces the tremendous power of the new microscope. The plates of insects fold out to be larger than the large folio itself. Although the book is most known for foregrounding the power of the microscope, "Micrographia" also descibes distant planetary bodies, the wave-theory of light, and various other philosophical and scientific interests of its author.
Published under the aegis of The Royal Society, the popularity of the book helped further the society's image and mission of being "the" scientifically progressive organization of London. "Micrographia" also focused attention on the miniature world, capturing the public's imagination in a radically new way.
Bibliography
- Robert Hooke. "Micrographia: or, Some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses". London: J. Martyn and J. Allestry, 1665. (first edition).
External Links
For more information, images, and excerpts, see:
- Roberthooke.org [1]
- Norton's Eighteenth-Century Microscope Educational Site [2]
- Micrographia excerpts [3]
- Octavo's Micrographia Edition [4] Octavo has a digital edition of Micrographia for purchase, but their site also lets you access thumbnails of the entire book, which is well worth doing to gain an understanding of the scope, breadth, and size of the work, particularily its fold-out images.
