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The University of Sydney 2015 i Table of Contents Acknowledgements........................................................................................................................................iv Chapter 1: Introduction.................................................................................................................................1 The Nature of Art.....................................................................................................................................1 Context........................................................................................................................................................4 Thesis Topic...............................................................................................................................................7 Chapter Outlines.....................................................................................................................................10 Chapter 2: Robert Hooke's Microscope...................................................................................................12 The Frustrations of the Early Modern Microscopist.......................................................................12 The Perfection of Lenses.......................................................................................................................21 The Invisible Material: Light.................................................................................................................29 Seeing What Was There: Specimens....................................................................................................31 Crafted Knowledge.................................................................................................................................38 Chapter 3: The Colours in Thin Plates.....................................................................................................40 The Importance of Materials................................................................................................................40 Hooke's Ideas on Colour Production..................................................................................................45 Crafting a Novel Experience.................................................................................................................57 The Irony of Acceptance: Newton's Influence on Hooke..............................................................61 Hypotheses and Practical Knowledge.................................................................................................68 Chapter 4: The Man with Microscope Eyes.............................................................................................71 The Hope of the Microscope...............................................................................................................71 Drawing Pictures.....................................................................................................................................77 Dr. Power Comes to Town....................................................................................................................80 The World Through a Microscope.......................................................................................................86 Visual Epistemology...............................................................................................................................94 Lookalikes.................................................................................................................................................98 The Machines of Nature.....................................................................................................................102 Under the Surface.................................................................................................................................107 Chapter 5: Inhuman Pursuits....................................................................................................................109 The Philosophical Duchess.................................................................................................................109 The Bear Necessities: the Form of Cavendish's Critique..............................................................113 The Royal Society's Early Critics, and Their Responses.................................................................118 The Study of Nature: Animals and Instruments.............................................................................121 Inhuman Knowledge............................................................................................................................128 Philosophy for Humans.......................................................................................................................133 Other Worlds.........................................................................................................................................142 Chapter 6: Eyesight and Ideas..................................................................................................................144 Building an Eye......................................................................................................................................144 The Tradition of the Camera Obscura..............................................................................................148 The Genealogy of Hooke's Instrument............................................................................................156 Hooke's Demonstration of Eyesight.................................................................................................163 The Eye as Instrument.........................................................................................................................165 Certainty..................................................................................................................................................171 After the Eye..........................................................................................................................................173 Relativity..................................................................................................................................................178 Chapter 7: Roles and Causes.....................................................................................................................184 Method as Performance.......................................................................................................................184 Early Employment................................................................................................................................188 ii The Meaning of Experiment..............................................................................................................190 Professional Natural Philosophy........................................................................................................195 Hooke's Histories..................................................................................................................................204 History and Philosophy........................................................................................................................206 Writing His Own Job Description......................................................................................................219 Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................224 Bibliography.................................................................................................................................................226 Appendix: “The Uses and advantage of Microscopes”.......................................................................251 iii List of Figures 1.1: Full stop....................................................................................................................................................1 1.2: Figures observable in frozen water and urine.....................................................................................2