Restless Genius: Robert Hooke and His Earthly Thoughts

Robert Hooke's hypotheses concerning the origin of terrestrial features were of major importance to the development of geology. This book interprets Hooke's Lectures and Discourses of Earthquakes, and Subterraneous Eruptions (1667-1694). The volume consists of the original text of the Discourses transposed into modern type and paired with explanatory annotations; a brief up-to-date biography of Hooke, with emphasis on his geological contributions; and a comparison of selected passages from James Hutton, to show the transmission of ideas and Hooke's influence on later geologists. It will attract Earth scientists and science historians, along with general readers interested in the history of geology.