Editing Robert Hooke (section)

=== Early life ===
Much of what is known of Hooke's early life comes from an autobiography he commenced in 1696 but never completed; [[Richard Waller (d. 1715)|Richard Waller]] FRS mentions it in his introduction to ''The Posthumous Works of Robert Hooke, M.D. S.R.S.'', which was printed in 1705.{{sfnp|Waller|1705|page=i}}{{efn|"SRS" means "Secretary of the Royal Society". He was also a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]]. The "MD" was an [[honorary degree]] conferred by Oxford University.{{sfnp|Gribbin|Gribbin|2017|p= 214}}}} The work of Waller, along with [[John Ward (academic)|John Ward]]'s ''Lives of the Gresham Professors'',{{sfnp|Ward|1740|p=169}} and [[John Aubrey]]'s ''Brief Lives''{{sfnp|Aubrey|1898}} form the major near-contemporaneous biographical accounts of his life.

Hooke was born in 1635 in [[Freshwater, Isle of Wight]], to Cecily Gyles and the Anglican priest John Hooke, who was the curate of [[All Saints' Church, Freshwater]].{{sfnp|Jardine|2003|p=23}} Robert was the youngest, by seven years, of four siblings (two boys and two girls); he was frail and not expected to live.{{sfnp|Martin|2000}}{{sfnp|Drake|1996|p=10}} Although his father gave him some instruction in English, [[Neo-Latin#Latin in school education 1500–1700|(Latin) Grammar]] and [[Divinity (academic discipline)|Divinity]], Robert's education was largely neglected.{{sfnp|Waller|1705|p=ii}} Left to his own devices, he made little mechanical toys; seeing a brass clock dismantled, he built a wooden replica that "would go".{{sfnp|Waller|1705|p=ii}}

Hooke's father died in October 1648, leaving £40 in his will to Robert (plus another £10 held over from his grandmother).{{sfnp|Gribbin|Gribbin|2017|p=4}}{{efn|Aubrey says £100{{sfnp|Aubrey|1898|p=410}} but the will (Hampshire Record Office 1648B09/1) clearly states £40.{{sfnp|Nakajima|1994}} Adjusted for retail price inflation, £50 in 1648 equates to about £{{inflation|UK|50|1648|r=-2|fmt=c}} today;{{Inflation/fn|UK}} Gribbin and Gribbin estimate its purchasing power as rather closer to £20,000.{{sfnp|Gribbin|Gribbin|2017|p=4}} }} At the age of 13, he took this to London to become an apprentice to the celebrated painter [[Peter Lely]].{{sfnp|Nakajima|1994}} Hooke also had "some instruction in drawing" from the [[limner]] Samuel Cowper{{sfnp|Aubrey|1898|p=410}} but "the smell of the Oil Colours did not agree with his Constitution, increasing his Head-ache to which he was ever too much subject", and he became a pupil at [[Westminster School]], living with its master [[Richard Busby]].{{sfnp|Waller|1705|p=iii}} Hooke quickly mastered Latin, Greek and [[Euclid's Elements|Euclid's ''Elements'']];{{sfnp|O'Connor|Robertson|2002}} he also learnt to play the [[pipe organ|organ]]{{sfnp|Pugliese|2004}} and began his lifelong study of mechanics.{{sfnp|O'Connor|Robertson|2002}} He remained an accomplished draughtsman, as he was later to demonstrate in his drawings that illustrate the work of [[Robert Boyle]] and Hooke's own ''Micrographia''.{{sfnp|Jardine|2003|pp=87,88}}