Robert Hooke was born on July 18 1635 and died on March 7 1703. He was the son of the Reverend John Hooke of Freshwater on the Isle of Wight, and an very gifted child, he was sent after his father's death in 1648 to apprentice with the painter Lely in London, and when the oil paints afflicted his weak constitution, moved to Westminster School, where he lived, and probably worked, in the household of the headmaster Busby. In 1653 he …showed first 75 words of 4183 total…

…showed last 75 words of 4183 total…However, Hooke's combination of technical and speculative talents challenges this depiction. His status as a mediator between his employers - the gentlemen-philosophers of the Royal Society - and his employees - the artisan-experimenters that he trained or contracted - and, even more so, his smooth moves between the realms of technology, observation, experiment, and theory, suggest that an adequate account of his scientific persona and achievements may require more sophisticated epistemological and historical categories.