Out of the Shadow of a Giant

January 1, 2018
The married Gribbin team (The Cat in the Box), visiting fellows at the University of Sussex, argue forcefully that two of Isaac Newton’s contemporaries, Robert Hooke (1635–1703) and Edmund Halley (1656–1742), have not been fully recognized for the importance of their contributions to science. Hooke receives pride of place here, and the Gribbins are at pains to establish the primacy of many of Hooke’s ideas over those of others, noting that his concept of gravity predated and was likely poached by the “serial plagiarist” Newton. Hooke’s other efforts include being a close collaborator with Robert Boyle; authoring the “first scientific bestseller,” Micrographia, which centered on his observations via microscope; and thoughts on geology and fossils that presage Darwin and modern conceptions of the Earth. He also served the Royal Society in various capacities while also providing much of the surveying and architectural work following the London Fire of 1666. Halley is well known for his prediction of the comet named for him, but the Gribbins remind readers that he was also responsible for shepherding Newton’s Principia into existence and that he captained several scientific voyages for the admiralty. Science readers will thank the Gribbins for restoring Hooke and Halley to the prominence that they deserve. Illus.

August 15, 2017
The story of Robert Hooke (1635-1703) and Edmond Halley (1656-1742) and an exploration of "how science might have developed if Isaac Newton had never lived."Newton was as revered as anyone during his time and will remain a towering figure even to readers of this provocative dual biography, in which the husband-and-wife team of science writers maintain that the great man had feet of clay. The Gribbins (A History of Science in 100 Experiments, 2016, etc.) clearly admire their subjects and dislike Newton--not only for his personality, which most historians agree was execrable, but also his integrity (of lack thereof). They make a good case. A prodigy as a youth, Hooke came to London as a teenager and became the "best experimental scientist of his time, the leading microscopist of the seventeenth century, an astronomer of the first rank, and he developed an understanding of earthquakes, fossils, and the history of the earth that would not be surpassed for a century." Newton claimed credit for many of Hooke's discoveries, including his First Law of Motion, the concept of gravity as a universal attractive force, and the inverse square law of gravity. Hooke's reputation has revived over the past century, and he has been called Britain's Leonardo da Vinci. Halley, known these days only for the eponymous comet, was another spectacularly energetic polymath who produced the first atlas of the southern skies, captained and navigated the first official scientific voyage to the southern seas, and produced a steady stream of scientific observations. Perhaps most important, he got along well with Newton and prodded him to write the Principia, paying for its publication. There is no chance that the authors will knock Newton off his pedestal, but they present a well-documented argument that he owed more to the ideas of others than he admitted.

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