The Scientific (and Personal) Rivalry Between Sir Isaac Newton and Robert Hooke

Why is there no known portrait of Robert Hooke?

Both Sir Isaac Newton and Robert Hooke were brilliant minds of the 17th century, yet their clashing temperaments and disputes over priority in discovery led to deep personal and professional animosity that shaped the trajectory of scientific progress in England and beyond.

Alexander Bryson, mentions in his paper, “Exposition of the Mechanical Inventions of Dr Robert Hooke.”

The possession of two such men as Newton and Hooke is rarely granted to one generation. They were not equal, however, in their greatness. But, while ample justice has been done to the genius of Newton, the labours of Hooke have been sadly overlooked.

By the time Newton began making his mark, Robert Hooke was already an influential figure in English science. As the Curator of Experiments at the Royal Society, Hooke had made significant contributions in mechanics, microscopy, and optics. His 1665 masterpiece, Micrographia, included pioneering observations with the microscope and proposed a wave theory of light.

[Left] Title page of Micrographia by Robert Hooke, Courtesy of National Library of Wales (Public Domain Image). [Right] Title page of Sir Isaac Newton’s Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687) (Public Domain Image).

Around February of 1672, Newton submitted a paper to Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society titled “Theory of Light and Colours”explaining his…