Micrographia
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- This article is about the book. For the medical term, see Micrographia (handwriting). For artwork "drawn" with lines of minute characters, see Micrography.
Micrographia is a historical book by Robert Hooke, detailing the then twenty-eight year-old Hooke's observations through various lenses. Published September, 1664, it was an immediate best-seller. Hooke most famously describes a fly's eye and a plant cell (where he coined that term because plant cells, which are walled, reminded him of prison chambers). Known for its spectacular copperplate engravings of the miniature world, particularly its fold-out plates of insects, the text itself reinforces the tremendous power of the new microscope. The plates of insects fold out to be larger than the large folio itself, the engraving of the louse in particular folding out to four times the size of the book. Although the book is most known for foregrounding the power of the microscope, Micrographia also describes distant planetary bodies, the wave theory of light, the organic origin of fossils, and various other philosophical and scientific interests of its author.
Published under the aegis of The Royal Society, the popularity of the book helped further the society's image and mission of being "the" scientifically progressive organization of London. Micrographia also focused attention on the miniature world, capturing the public's imagination in a radically new way. This impact is illustrated by Samuel Pepys' reaction upon completing the tome: "the most ingenious book that I ever read in my life."
Bibliography
- Robert Hooke. "Micrographia: or, Some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses". London: J. Martyn and J. Allestry, 1665. (first edition).
External links
- Project Gutenburg Micrographia text
- National Library of Medicine - Micrographia virtual bookfr:Micrographia
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
