Speculations About the Earth: the Role of Robert Hooke and Others in the 17th Century

Abstract

Among his 17th century contemporaries Robert Hooke (1635-1703) was exceptional in his investigations of the terraqueous globe by experimentation and development of instrumentation for ocean exploration and in forming hypotheses concerning the origin of the earth's surface features. Most theories of the earth written at that time were concerned with bringing observations of nature into concordance with Biblical accounts of Creation, the Deluge, and the final Conflagration. In contrast, Hooke's hypotheses, published posthumously in 1705 in his Discourses of Earthquakes, were essentially unhampered by religious considerations or by other forms of Medievalism. Because he was a product of the 17th century and because these Discourses were presented over a period of 30 years, Hooke naturally made references to all-pervasive Biblical concepts and furthermore his ideas showed some changes as time went on. But his approach was generally scientific and is considered more sophisticated than purely Baconian. His system of the earth was not only unlike those of his contemporaries but in essence was the pre-continental-drift paradigm within which most present-day geologists over age 40 were reared; many of his insights were startlingly modern. Hooke's role was significant in the development of science and especially in the progress of earth science.