The remarkable vision of Robert Hooke (1635-1703): first observer of the microbial world

Robert Hooke played important roles in the early development of the Royal Society of London. As Curator of Experiments of the Society, he became a pioneering microscopist, prolific inventor, astronomer, geologist, architect, and an effective surveyor of the City of London following the Great Fire of 1666. Hooke's Micrographia (1665) revealed the microscopic structures of numerous biological and inorganic objects and became an important source of information for later studies. Aside from the body of detailed observations reported and depicted in Micrographia, the Preface is in itself an extraordinary document that exhibits Hooke's fertile mind, philosophical insights, and rare ability to look into the future.