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Work #1517 · Mid-career

An Attempt to Prove the Motion of the Earth from Observations

Robert Hooke
1674 · English
Cutlerian Lecture / scientific pamphlet · Royal-Society experimental philosophy / Newtonian-prehistory celestial mechanics

Hooke's 1674 lecture — earliest published statement of the inverse-square hypothesis for celestial motion

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute An Attempt to Prove the Motion of the Earth from Observations (Mid-career)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Immediate
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Finite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

An Attempt to Prove the Motion of the Earth from Observations

1674 publication (the Cutlerian Lecture was delivered earlier in the 1670s).

Space

An Attempt to Prove the Motion of the Earth from Observations

Gresham College, London — Hooke held the Cutlerian Lectureship for many years, delivering free public scientific lectures at Gresham.

Matter

An Attempt to Prove the Motion of the Earth from Observations

Single Cutlerian Lecture pamphlet (~28 pages). Form is short astronomical-philosophical pamphlet.

Observer

An Attempt to Prove the Motion of the Earth from Observations

Mid-career Hooke as celestial mechanic. The observer is the Royal Society Curator of Experiments (Hooke had held the position since 1662) and the leading London experimentalist.

Energy

An Attempt to Prove the Motion of the Earth from Observations

Pre-Newtonian celestial-mechanical energies. The pamphlet is the most concentrated single document of Hooke's celestial-mechanical thought.

Information

An Attempt to Prove the Motion of the Earth from Observations

Single pamphlet with three propositions. The three principles (universal attraction, inertia, decreasing-with-distance gravitation) anticipate the Newtonian Principia by 13 years.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

An Attempt to Prove the Motion of the Earth from Observations

The pamphlet at the centre of the Hooke-Newton priority dispute over universal gravitation. Continuously discussed in the history of science (Westfall, Iliffe, Inwood); the assessment of whether Hooke's 1674 statement and the 1679-80 correspondence entitled him to priority over Newton has been continually contested.