A HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



philosopher was well established. Admiration for his 

 ability and his philosophical knowledge must always be 

 marred by the recollection of his arrogant claims to 

 the discoveries of other philosophers. 



It seems pretty definitely determined that Hooke 

 should be credited with the invention of the balance- 

 spring for regulating watches; but for a long time a 

 heated controversy was waged between Hooke and 

 Huygens as to who was the real inventor. It appears 

 that Hooke conceived the idea of the balance-spring, 

 while to Huygens belongs the credit of having adapted 

 the coiled spring in a working model. He thus made 

 practical Hooke' s conception, which is without value 

 except as applied by the coiled spring ; but, neverthe- 

 less, the inventor, as well as the perfector, should 

 receive credit. In this controversy, unlike many 

 others, the blame cannot be laid at Hooke' s door. 



Hooke was the first curator of the Royal Society, 

 and when anything was to be investigated, usually 

 invented the mechanical devices for doing so. As- 

 tronomical apparatus, instruments for measuring 

 specific weights, clocks and chronometers, methods 

 of measuring the velocity of falling bodies, freezing 

 and boiling points, -strength of gunpowder, magnetic 

 instruments in short, all kinds of ingenious me- 

 chanical devices in all branches of science and me- 

 chanics. It was he who made the famous air-pump of 

 Robert Boyle, based on Boyle's plans. Incidentally, 

 Hooke claimed to be the inventor of the first air-pump 

 himself, although this claim is now entirely discredited. 



Within a period of two years he devised no less than 

 thirty different methods of flying, all of which, of 



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