Micrographia; or, Some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses. With observations and inquiries thereupon

Robert Hooke, Micrographia; or, Some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses. With observations and inquiries thereupon

Robert Hooke, artist

1635–1703

Micrographia; or, Some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses. With observations and inquiries thereupon, 1667 (second reprinting of first edition)

Where object was made: England, United Kingdom

Material/technique: printing; paper

Credit line: Clendening History of Medicine Library and Museum, University of Kansas Medical Center

Accession number: EL2020.045

Not on display

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Robert Hooke has been referred to as an English Leonardo da Vinci in recognition of his extraordinary work as a scientist, natural philosopher, and architect. Micrographia represents Hooke’s pioneering work in microscopy, in which he became the first person to visualize a microorganism. His detailed illustration of a miniscule flea as seen under his microscope is among Hooke’s most famous contributions from this volume, but it also contains the first known use of the word “cell” in a biological framework—an observation that would transform the Western understanding of the building blocks of life and set the stage for modern biology.