Robert Hooke was described by his contemporaries as the most inventive man who ever lived. Yet three centuries after his death, he has faded into an obscure figure who is best known for giving his name to a law that describes the behaviour of springs.
Hooke was Britain's first professional research scientist and made his living by conducting experiments for the Royal Society's gentleman amateurs.
He was the inventor of the iris diaphragm in cameras, the universal joint in motor vehicles and the balance wheel in a watch.
Hooke's contributions to science are vast, among them his Micrographia published in 1665, where he recorded observations made with the compound microscope that he also used for demonstrations.
Samuel Pepys, the diarist, recorded how he had stayed up till 2am reading the bestseller, which he called "the most ingenious book that I ever read".
Hooke was also a self-taught yet gifted architect who worked closely with Christopher Wren for 30 years. Here too, Hooke's achievement has been overlooked by history. Many of London's buildings, including the Monument and the Old Observatory in Greenwich, were ascribed to Wren when Hooke also made significant contributions.