1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to steph you missed in history Class from how 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Frying and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. And the 4 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:20,800 Speaker 1: subject of our show today is fascinating because it's Anthony 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 1: van Levin Hook and he wasn't really a scientist, but 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: he made dozens of important scientific discoveries. He is credited 7 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: with discovering microscopic life in a variety of forms. And 8 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:35,480 Speaker 1: I just want to give a quick heads up to listeners. 9 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: This episode does discuss reproductive science. So if you listen 10 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:42,199 Speaker 1: with younger history buffs and you maybe haven't covered that 11 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 1: territory yet, you might want to just give it a 12 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: quick listen before sharing. But other than that, we're just 13 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: going to jump right into his life because he did 14 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: some pretty impressive and also intriguing things. Yes, and we're 15 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: going to talk about what we mean by not really 16 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: a scientist later on. So, Anthony von Levin Hook was 17 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: born on October thirty two in Delft, Netherlands. This was 18 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: a pretty interesting year. A lot of fascinating people were 19 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: all born that same year, including John Locke, Baruch de Spinoza, 20 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:21,319 Speaker 1: Christopher Wren, and jan Vermeer, all of them born that 21 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:26,199 Speaker 1: same year. Yeah, it was a wild time for important people. 22 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 1: And his father, Phillips von Levin Hook, was a craftsman. 23 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: His mother, Margharita Bell van den Burch, who married Phillips 24 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,559 Speaker 1: ten years before Anthony was born, was from a family 25 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 1: of brewers, so they were certainly a respectable family, but 26 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: they weren't really aristocratic and according to a book on 27 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: Leavin Hook and his work that was written in nineteen 28 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 1: thirty two by Clifford Dobell, it was tradition in their 29 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: family to alternate naming firstborn sons either Phillips or Anthony. 30 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: While Anthony was the first son, he was their fifth child. 31 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:02,120 Speaker 1: We grew up with four older stars. Phillips died when 32 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 1: Anthony was only five years old, and a few years 33 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: after losing her first husband, Margareta remarried. This time it 34 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 1: was to a painter, Jacob Yon's Mulling. Margaretta and Jacob 35 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: were married in December sixteen forty and around this time 36 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: the young Anthony started attending school in a village in 37 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:22,359 Speaker 1: the Netherlands called Varmond. Later, he was sent to live 38 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,279 Speaker 1: with his uncle in the South Holland, province of Benthausen. 39 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:31,239 Speaker 1: Yacob died eight years into his marriage to Margaretta, and Anthony, 40 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,079 Speaker 1: who was sixteen when his stepfather passed away, was then 41 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 1: sent to Amsterdam. There he started learning about textiles, haberdashery 42 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: and linen draping through an apprenticeship, and this is likely 43 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,359 Speaker 1: the point in his life where he first discovered lenses 44 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: used for magnification, because in the textile industry they were 45 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: used and sometimes still are to examine fibers and thread 46 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: counts up close. But magnification eventually, of course, took on 47 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:00,519 Speaker 1: a far greater role in Levan Hook's life. Several years later, 48 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: when he was twenty, he went back home to his 49 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: hometown and he set up shop as a haberdasher. In 50 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: sixteen fifty four, Anthony married Barbara de May, a young 51 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:12,639 Speaker 1: woman three years older than he was, who was the 52 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,080 Speaker 1: daughter of one of his colleagues in the clothing trade, 53 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 1: and that couple had five children together, three sons and 54 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 1: two daughters over the course of twelve years, but four 55 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: of those children died quite young. Only one of their daughters, 56 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:28,519 Speaker 1: named Maria, who was their second child, lived to adulthood. 57 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: In sixteen sixty laven Hook became the Chamberlain to the 58 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: Sheriffs of Delft, securing a regular income for this position. 59 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: He held the post for thirty nine years, and he 60 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: kept receiving income from it after he had retired, all 61 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: the way up until his death. If you're not clear 62 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: on what a chamberlain does, here's the description of the 63 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 1: job as it was laid out by his employers. There 64 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 1: Worships the Burgomasters and Magistrates of the Town of Delft, 65 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: has appointed and do hereby charge Anthony leven Hook to 66 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: look after the chamber, wherein the Chief Judge, the Sheriffs, 67 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:03,160 Speaker 1: and the law officers of this town do assemble to 68 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: open and shut the foresaid chamber at both ordinary and 69 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: extraordinary assemblies of the foresaid gentleman, in such wise as 70 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 1: shall be required and needful item to show towards these gentlemen, 71 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 1: all respect, honor and reverence, and diligently to perform and 72 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: faithfully to execute all charges which may be laid upon him, 73 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 1: and to keep to himself whatever he may overhear in 74 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: the chamber, To clean the foresaid chamber properly, and to 75 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: keep it needed tidy, to lay the fire at such 76 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: times as it may be required, and at his own convenience, 77 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,679 Speaker 1: and carefully to preserve for his own profit what coals 78 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: may remain unconsumed, and see to it that no mischance 79 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: befall thereby, nor from the light of the candles. And 80 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 1: he shall furthermore do all that is required and that 81 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:57,839 Speaker 1: pertaineth to a good and trusty Chamberlain. So it's a 82 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: lot of words that basically sums up to keep these 83 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: offices open when we need them, comfortable, warm and lit, 84 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,600 Speaker 1: and keep your mouth shut and don't burn the place 85 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 1: down right, which I sort of love. I also liked 86 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:14,920 Speaker 1: that there's a stipulation that he can keep leftover cold 87 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,720 Speaker 1: at the end of the day. Uh. But the this 88 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:21,360 Speaker 1: stable income that he got from being chamberlain was significant 89 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: in that it meant that he could devote his free 90 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: time to science instead of having to hustle to make 91 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: ends meet, and specifically to the science of grinding lenses, 92 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:33,040 Speaker 1: which was a hobby that leven Hook had enjoyed for 93 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: some time, most likely, as we said, piqued by his 94 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:39,159 Speaker 1: work in the textile trade. It's also believed that he 95 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 1: had at some point seen a copy of Robert Hook's 96 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,360 Speaker 1: book Micrographia, which featured illustrations and writings about Hook's work 97 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:50,960 Speaker 1: in observational science. The lenses he was making were specifically 98 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:55,240 Speaker 1: microscope lenses, and they weren't like modern compound microscopes. They 99 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 1: were very simple, consisting of a single lens, and leaven 100 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:01,720 Speaker 1: Hook used them to look at all kinds of things. 101 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:05,039 Speaker 1: While he went on to share a great many discoveries, 102 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:08,359 Speaker 1: he did not share information about precisely how he was 103 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: making these observations. And some of his lenses were incredibly minuscule, 104 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: less than two millimeters in diameter, so tiny like I 105 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: would drop it on the floor and never find it again. Uh. 106 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 1: And of the five hundred lenses that he is estimated 107 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:26,280 Speaker 1: to have made in his life, several samples, which were 108 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: given to the Royal Society of England after his death 109 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 1: at his request, could magnify anywhere from fifty to three 110 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 1: hundred times actual size. So they were tiny and mighty. 111 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:40,719 Speaker 1: But even though the lenses themselves were examined by other scientists, 112 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: the manner in which leaven Hook used them to observe 113 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: things like fleas and bacteria still eluded them. His technique 114 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: actually remains a matter of some debate. In a moment 115 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: we will talk about the opinion of an observer who 116 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 1: visited leaven Hook and offered up what he thought about 117 00:06:57,360 --> 00:06:59,679 Speaker 1: all these lenses. But first we will take a moment 118 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 1: for a quick word from a sponsor. As we said 119 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 1: before the break, we don't know exactly how leven Hook 120 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: made all of his observations, but we're not entirely without 121 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: insight into how he worked with his lenses. In February 122 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: he was visited by Irish physician Thomas Mologna, who wrote 123 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: to the Royal Society about what he saw in the 124 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 1: leven Hook's lab. And he wrote this as to his 125 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: microscopes themselves, those which he showed me in number at 126 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: least a dozen were all of one sort, consisting only 127 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: of one small glass ground. This I mentioned because TIS 128 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 1: generally thought his microscopes are blown at a lamp. Those 129 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 1: I saw, I am sure are not placed between two 130 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 1: thin flat plates of brass about an inch broad and 131 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:51,960 Speaker 1: an inch and a half long. In these two plates 132 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 1: there were two apertures, one before the other behind the glass, 133 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 1: which were larger or smaller as the glass was more 134 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:02,680 Speaker 1: or less convex, or as it magnified. Just opposite to 135 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: these apertures, on one side was placed, sometimes a needle, 136 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:09,679 Speaker 1: sometimes a slender, flat body of glass or opaque matter, 137 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: as the occasion required, upon which or to its apex, 138 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: he fixes whatever object he has to look upon. Then, 139 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 1: holding it up against the light by help of two 140 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: small screws, he places it just in the focus of 141 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: his glass, and then makes his observations. But apparently Leavin 142 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: Hook did not show him everything. This letter continues, quote, 143 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: such were the microscopes that I saw, And these are 144 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: they he shows to the curious that come and visit him. 145 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 1: But besides these, he told me he had another sort 146 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:46,440 Speaker 1: which no man living had looked through. Setting aside himself, 147 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 1: these he reserves for his own private observations wholly. And 148 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: he assured me they performed far beyond any that he 149 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 1: had showed me yet, but would not allow me a 150 00:08:57,160 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 1: sight of them. So all I can do is barely 151 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: to believe, for I complete no experience in the matter. 152 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:07,240 Speaker 1: So I know we read his little description, but I 153 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: want to put it in plainer language. Um, And so 154 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: you get a sense of Leavin Hook's known microscope set 155 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,200 Speaker 1: up in more detail. It sort of resembles a small 156 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:19,080 Speaker 1: paddle if you just look at the outline of it. 157 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: So the main body of this paddle was made up 158 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:25,120 Speaker 1: of two identically shaped brass plates, and on each plate 159 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: there was a small hole about two thirds of the 160 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:31,200 Speaker 1: way up the body. This is the thing that Molegna describes, uh, 161 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 1: these these holes having apertures, so they can be altered 162 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:36,960 Speaker 1: in in terms of their size. And that lens was 163 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: placed between the two plates at that point of the hole, 164 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: so you can see through the first hole through the 165 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:43,400 Speaker 1: lens and then through the hole on the other side. 166 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:45,800 Speaker 1: And on the back of the paddle was this pin 167 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:48,640 Speaker 1: that was held in place by focusing screws, and so 168 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:51,600 Speaker 1: a specimen could be placed on that pin and then 169 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: adjusted via the focusing screws, so up or down her 170 00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 1: side to side a little bit until the object of 171 00:09:56,840 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 1: observation came into focus through the lens. For the other 172 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:04,600 Speaker 1: secret microscope that he showed to no one else, that 173 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:08,560 Speaker 1: remains a mystery. Yeah, And some of his observations were 174 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:12,280 Speaker 1: so astonishing in their detail that we know he was 175 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 1: using something else, we just don't know what. And even 176 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 1: as the haberdasher turned scientists, reputation grew and he was 177 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: visited by the likes of Peter the Great of Russia, 178 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 1: James the Second of England, and Frederick the Second of Prussia. 179 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 1: He would not reveal even to these monarchs his methods, 180 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:32,040 Speaker 1: and that was something of a disappointment in some cases, 181 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 1: because visiting dignitaries expected that they would have this curtain 182 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:38,880 Speaker 1: pulled back on leaven Hooks secrets, and they always had 183 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: to leave without such knowledge. Laven Hook's wife, Barbara, died 184 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: in sixteen sixty six, and five years later, in sixteen 185 00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: seventy one, leaven Hook married again, this time to a 186 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:51,680 Speaker 1: woman named Cornelius Swalmias. The two of them remained together 187 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:55,280 Speaker 1: for twenty three years until she died in sixteen ninety four. 188 00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:00,480 Speaker 1: In sixteen seventy three, through a connection made by our friend, 189 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:04,320 Speaker 1: Leavin Hook began corresponding with the Royal Society of England 190 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:07,240 Speaker 1: and from that point on he corresponded with the group 191 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:09,720 Speaker 1: about all of the various things that he saw through 192 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: his simple microscope. He made a lot of discoveries, but 193 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: he wasn't entirely methodical about the process. He didn't do 194 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:19,320 Speaker 1: formal scientific work. Yeah, and that's really what we mean 195 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:23,080 Speaker 1: when we talk about not a real scientist. He he 196 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: wasn't systematically approaching a field of study. He was just 197 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:31,439 Speaker 1: kind of looking at stuff nat and then drawing it 198 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:35,240 Speaker 1: or having it drawn for himself. Usually. They actually wrote 199 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:38,720 Speaker 1: a letter to the Royal Society describing his misgivings about 200 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 1: sharing his findings, and in it he said quote, I 201 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 1: have ofttimes been besought by diverse genttleman to set down 202 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:49,080 Speaker 1: on paper what I have beheld through my newly invented microscopia. 203 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,080 Speaker 1: But I have generally declined, first because I have no 204 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:56,079 Speaker 1: style or pen wherewith to express my thoughts properly, secondly 205 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 1: because I have not been brought up to languages or arts, 206 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:01,559 Speaker 1: but only to buy nous, And in the third place, 207 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:06,000 Speaker 1: because I do not gladly suffer contradiction or sensure from others. 208 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:08,720 Speaker 1: This resolve of mine, however, I have now set aside 209 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,880 Speaker 1: as I can't draw. I have got them drawn for me, 210 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:14,280 Speaker 1: but the proportions have not come out as well as 211 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: I had hoped to see him, And each figure that 212 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:19,880 Speaker 1: I send you here with was seen and drawn through 213 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:23,440 Speaker 1: a different magnifying glass. I beg you, therefore, and those 214 00:12:23,559 --> 00:12:26,640 Speaker 1: gentlemen to whose notice these may come, please to bear 215 00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:29,360 Speaker 1: in mind that my observations and thoughts are the outcome 216 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 1: of my own unaided impulse and curiosity alone. For besides 217 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:36,520 Speaker 1: myself in our town, there be no philosophers who practiced 218 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:39,600 Speaker 1: this art to pray, take not amiss my poor pen 219 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:43,040 Speaker 1: and the liberty I here take in setting down my 220 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 1: random notions. Yeah, he acknowledged like I'm not formally trained 221 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: in any of this. A lot of critiques. Also, I 222 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:58,120 Speaker 1: can't draw, which I found really quite lovely that he 223 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:00,480 Speaker 1: was very upfront and said, I don't like being cretic sized. 224 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:03,280 Speaker 1: I don't really know what I'm doing, but I kind 225 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 1: of do want to share this stuff. As another person 226 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:10,400 Speaker 1: who can't draw, I I empathize I'm not very good either. 227 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 1: I have a few tricks and then I'm out. But 228 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 1: just the same. Despite all of these sort of caveats 229 00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:19,920 Speaker 1: that he gave, the Royal Society, the Royal Society of 230 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:22,920 Speaker 1: England welcomed his findings, and it was through the Society 231 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,280 Speaker 1: that most of his work became public knowledge. They published 232 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: many of his discoveries through the years in their periodical 233 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:33,480 Speaker 1: philosophical Transactions, and over the course of laven Hook's life, 234 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:37,320 Speaker 1: three hundred seventy five different pieces of content attributed to 235 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:42,199 Speaker 1: him appeared in philosophical transactions. Those first letters and subsequent 236 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 1: publications describe as mentioned in the letter we just read 237 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 1: from Uh. There's a later part where he talks about 238 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:52,200 Speaker 1: them be mouths, be eyes, and the stingers of bees. 239 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:56,800 Speaker 1: He also describes a fungus and a lout. I love 240 00:13:56,880 --> 00:14:03,560 Speaker 1: this part because I am very fond of insects, weird mouthparts. 241 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 1: You are a kindred spirit. With Antony von Levan Hook, 242 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:09,880 Speaker 1: he wrote a lot about them. Yep. So in the 243 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:13,599 Speaker 1: mid sixteen seventies, leaven Hook, using his microscopic limbs is 244 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: to look at water, started observing things that he referred 245 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 1: to as very little animal cules. It's possibly the most 246 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: adorable portmanteau of all time. He was looking at protozoa, 247 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:28,480 Speaker 1: but the scientists of the sixteen seventies didn't really know 248 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: what he was seeing. They did not have a concept 249 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 1: to match these animal cueles. The samples that he used 250 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,800 Speaker 1: for observation came from everywhere. That came from pond and rainwater, 251 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:42,760 Speaker 1: from human saliva, and even from human intestines. His reputation 252 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,680 Speaker 1: came under fire for all of this animal cules talk. 253 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:50,280 Speaker 1: So when leaven Hook was describing highly magnified specimens of 254 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 1: known things like insects and fungus. His work was accepted 255 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: by the Royal Society and even lauded, But then talking 256 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 1: about microscopic living things was an their matter entirely. It 257 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 1: sounded completely preposterous to a lot of people at the time. 258 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:08,120 Speaker 1: It was such a sea change in the scientific world 259 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: that a number of members of the Royal Society dismissed 260 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:15,680 Speaker 1: the work outright. Eventually, the year after publication, and after 261 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:18,920 Speaker 1: several people had observed Leavin Hook's work and yet others 262 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:23,920 Speaker 1: had managed to duplicate his findings, his discovery was actually recognized. 263 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:26,840 Speaker 1: Next up, we will talk about an area of discovery 264 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:30,720 Speaker 1: that leaven Hook was initially reluctant to even consider. But 265 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:39,440 Speaker 1: first we will take another quick sponsor break. In sixteen 266 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:43,040 Speaker 1: seventy seven, Anthony van leven Hook began studying supurbon a 267 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:47,120 Speaker 1: zoa from a variety of species. Other scientists had already 268 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:51,040 Speaker 1: encouraged him to turn his microscope to the examination of semen, 269 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 1: but he had been really pretty apprehensive because he thought 270 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:59,640 Speaker 1: writing about such things might be perceived as crude and impolite. Finally, though, 271 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: and Hook found the courage to do some observational work 272 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 1: in this area. When he finally wrote to the Royal 273 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:08,840 Speaker 1: Society about what he had seen through his lenses, the 274 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:11,800 Speaker 1: letter was awkward and nervous, and it left the matter 275 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: of what to do with this information up to the recipient. 276 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: He wrote, quote, what I investigate is only what, without 277 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:24,040 Speaker 1: sinfully defiling myself, remains as a residue after conjugal coitus. 278 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,840 Speaker 1: And if your Lordship should consider that these observations may 279 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:32,320 Speaker 1: discussed or scandalized the learned, I earnestly beg your Lordship 280 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:35,560 Speaker 1: to regard them as private, and to publish or destroy 281 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:43,040 Speaker 1: them as your Lordship thinks fit so nervous so, this 282 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:46,280 Speaker 1: entire branch of science at the time was loaded with 283 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:51,520 Speaker 1: varying ideas and concepts to explain exactly how reproduction played out. 284 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:55,560 Speaker 1: There were theories that some sort of vapor was involved 285 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 1: in male ejaculate that catalyzed the production of new life 286 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: on the part of women in and another idea was 287 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:04,399 Speaker 1: that all the material to make a new human was 288 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 1: contained in the sperm and that it merely needed to 289 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:10,439 Speaker 1: be implanted in a uterus for gestation. And all of 290 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: these varying theories, there were many others were categorized into 291 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:17,720 Speaker 1: two basic schools of thought, epigenesists, who believed that some 292 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:20,199 Speaker 1: sort of combining of materials from a man and a 293 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:24,400 Speaker 1: woman created life, and preformationists, who thought that the complete 294 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: makeup of a human was contained in one or the other, 295 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,399 Speaker 1: the sperm or the egg, and that sexual intercourse served 296 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 1: as some sort of catalyst for the process of development. 297 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:37,680 Speaker 1: Laven Hook's work in this area was really controversial. I 298 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,640 Speaker 1: mean it should be obvious from what he felt compelled 299 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:42,879 Speaker 1: to point out about it in that letter that he wrote. 300 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 1: There were some members of the Royal Society who thought 301 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:49,960 Speaker 1: he had actually misidentified parasites, and there was a lot 302 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:53,400 Speaker 1: of stigma around this kind of research once he had started, 303 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 1: though he continued on with it, eventually examining spermatozoa from 304 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:02,720 Speaker 1: lots of other animals, mostly mammals, but also birds, fish, mollusks, 305 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:06,440 Speaker 1: and amphibians. Yeah, he did a lot of like frog research, 306 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:10,880 Speaker 1: but spermonozo is certainly not the only thing. But leaven 307 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 1: Hook on the scientific map. We talked about some of 308 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: his insect observations earlier, but he noted, for example, parthenogenesis 309 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,639 Speaker 1: in aphids, and he studied and described like we mentioned 310 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 1: the tiniest parts of insects and plants, and offered insights 311 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:27,840 Speaker 1: that previously had not been known into both of those. 312 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 1: In sixteen eighty he made observations that significantly advanced human 313 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,679 Speaker 1: knowledge of yeast, and his work really led to great 314 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: strides in the understanding of plant life and how it grows. 315 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:43,400 Speaker 1: He also described red blood cells for the first time 316 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 1: known about in human history in sixteen eighty, and he 317 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:49,960 Speaker 1: was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of England 318 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:54,439 Speaker 1: that year. In sixteen eighty three, Philosophical Transactions published a 319 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:57,040 Speaker 1: drawing by leaven Hook that's believed to be the first 320 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:01,600 Speaker 1: graphical depiction of bacteria. He made this discovery while looking 321 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:05,000 Speaker 1: at examples of plaque from the mouths of himself and 322 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:08,560 Speaker 1: several other people. Quote. I then most always saw with 323 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:12,040 Speaker 1: great wonder that in said matter there were many very 324 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:17,800 Speaker 1: little living animal cules, very prettily a moving. That's a 325 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 1: nice way to describe bacteria in your mouth. Oh they're 326 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:25,200 Speaker 1: so cute, They're just pretty. One of the most important 327 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: contributions made to science by leaven Hook was the work 328 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:32,160 Speaker 1: he did to disprove the concept of spontaneous generation. So 329 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 1: just in case you need a refresher on that one. 330 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 1: Spontaneous generation was a theory that life forms could generate 331 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:44,160 Speaker 1: spontaneously from non living matter. The common example is the 332 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:48,480 Speaker 1: once widely believed idea that mag gets spontaneously generated from 333 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:51,199 Speaker 1: rotting meat. I had a book as a child that 334 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:57,199 Speaker 1: included the example of barnacles that looked like geese becoming geese, 335 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:00,240 Speaker 1: and I was at the age of five, like, are 336 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:06,560 Speaker 1: you kidding me? That's fantastic. I wish I still had 337 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 1: that book somewhere. It was bizarre. So Leban Hook and 338 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:13,320 Speaker 1: his study of little tiny organisms started examining the life 339 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:17,679 Speaker 1: cycles of small creatures and studying weevils, he observed that 340 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:20,760 Speaker 1: they were grubs that hatched from eggs and not as 341 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:26,359 Speaker 1: was commonly accepted, just sprouting forth from wheat. Similarly, his 342 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:30,160 Speaker 1: examination of fleas resulted in a detailed description of their 343 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:33,919 Speaker 1: life cycle, including hatching from eggs, which was in opposition 344 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:37,840 Speaker 1: to a popular belief that they were generated spontaneously from sand, 345 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:42,479 Speaker 1: dust or other particulate non living matter. For a long time, 346 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:45,639 Speaker 1: what we now know our aunt's pupae were believed to 347 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:48,480 Speaker 1: be their eggs, and it was Leaven Hook who set 348 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:51,160 Speaker 1: the record straight on that, establishing that their eggs are 349 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:53,680 Speaker 1: in fact much tinier than that, and that the insects 350 00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:56,840 Speaker 1: passed through a larval stage before the pupil was formed. 351 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 1: His observations were not exclude sibly focused on tiny creatures, 352 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: though he also studied sea creatures such as muscles and eels, 353 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:08,000 Speaker 1: both of which had been at one point believed to 354 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:11,840 Speaker 1: be the product of spontaneous generation, and seventeen o two 355 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:17,000 Speaker 1: he wrote extensively on the microscopic aquatic invertebrates known as rotifers. 356 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,000 Speaker 1: So while the subjects of his work were at times 357 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:24,920 Speaker 1: quite small, these were really huge developments in the scientific community. 358 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:28,400 Speaker 1: He died where he was born, on the of August 359 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:33,200 Speaker 1: seventeen twenty three. And we're going to revisit that letter 360 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:36,680 Speaker 1: that Thomas Molna wrote to the Royal Society while visiting 361 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,719 Speaker 1: laban Hook, because in addition to the sections that we 362 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 1: read earlier in the show, he also included this description, 363 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:47,399 Speaker 1: which became a little bit famous. I found him a 364 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: very civil, complacent man, and doubtless of great natural abilities, 365 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:56,480 Speaker 1: but contrary to my expectations, quite a stranger to letters master, 366 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,359 Speaker 1: neither of Latin, French or English or any of the 367 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,640 Speaker 1: modern tongue besides his own, which is a great hindrance 368 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:06,240 Speaker 1: to him and his reasonings upon his observations. For being 369 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,400 Speaker 1: ignorant of all other men's thoughts, he is wholly trusting 370 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 1: to his own, which I observed now, and then lead 371 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: him into extravagances and suggest very odd accounts of things. Nay, 372 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:22,440 Speaker 1: sometimes such as are wholly irreconcilable with all truth. You see, sir, 373 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 1: how freely I give you my thoughts on him because 374 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:28,639 Speaker 1: you desired it. But in some ways it seems as 375 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:31,400 Speaker 1: though part of the reason that Antony von Levin Hook 376 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:34,879 Speaker 1: was so prolific in his observations was because he was 377 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:39,560 Speaker 1: an outsider, without pre existing scientific ideas informing his work. 378 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:42,280 Speaker 1: He just saw what he saw and then he recorded it, 379 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: and he didn't feel constrained by what was expected of 380 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:50,440 Speaker 1: a scientist. Yeah, even though Leavin Hook made his observations 381 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:53,800 Speaker 1: beginning in sixteen seventy three, it wasn't even until the 382 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds that people started to comprehend that, for example, 383 00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:01,840 Speaker 1: the bacteria that he described were linked to disease. So 384 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 1: he was so far ahead that science could not had 385 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:07,040 Speaker 1: to have a little time to catch up. To what 386 00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:10,080 Speaker 1: he had discovered, and while his letters to colleagues and 387 00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:13,040 Speaker 1: to the Royal Society were collected into books, he never 388 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:17,240 Speaker 1: formally penned a book or wrote a scientific paper. In 389 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:21,480 Speaker 1: an interview with the Smithsonian in Marvin Bolt, who was 390 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:24,919 Speaker 1: curator of Science and Technology at the Corning Museum of Glass, 391 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:27,159 Speaker 1: which is a fascinating place if you ever get the 392 00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:30,479 Speaker 1: opportunity to go there. Quote Robert Hook was looking at 393 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:33,639 Speaker 1: parts of animals that were already known. Then Von Levin 394 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:37,080 Speaker 1: Hook went deeper to see on a cellular level things 395 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,440 Speaker 1: no one had ever seen before, such as muscle fibers, sperm, 396 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:45,639 Speaker 1: and bacteria. He really blazed the trail. So that's Anthony 397 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:49,840 Speaker 1: von Levin Hook and his teeny tiny science. I love 398 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:52,240 Speaker 1: I love it so much. Do you have teeny tiny 399 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,920 Speaker 1: listener mail? It is kind of teeny tiny listener mail. Uh. 400 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:58,120 Speaker 1: It is from our listener Maureen, who says, Hi, Holly 401 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:00,760 Speaker 1: and Tracy. In September I went to London and visited 402 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:04,000 Speaker 1: the Museum of London, which is absolutely awesome. You start 403 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,440 Speaker 1: out in prehistory and make your way through London as 404 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:08,480 Speaker 1: it was right up to the present day. I recommend 405 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:11,680 Speaker 1: it to everyone and closed is a doll or ornament 406 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,159 Speaker 1: of Ann Fanshawe, whose father had been the Mayor of London. 407 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:17,760 Speaker 1: She's in her court dress, which is housed at the 408 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,800 Speaker 1: Museum of London, and it is frankly bananas. I couldn't 409 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:24,879 Speaker 1: imagine wearing a skirt that big or elaborately embroidered. Knowing 410 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:26,720 Speaker 1: your love of historical fashion, I had to get the 411 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 1: doll for you. I love the show and listen religiously. 412 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:32,200 Speaker 1: I've learned so much interesting things that even sometimes helped 413 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:35,240 Speaker 1: me at work. I am a public librarian. Thanks for everything, Okay, 414 00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:38,600 Speaker 1: Maureen one, thank you for being a librarian, especially a 415 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:42,000 Speaker 1: public librarian. Those are vital roles. And to thank you 416 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:45,600 Speaker 1: for this adorable um ornament, I'm gonna say it's an ornament. 417 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:50,399 Speaker 1: She's lovely, trying to show her to Tracy. She's so pretty. 418 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:54,199 Speaker 1: So I can't tell you how much I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Uh. 419 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,960 Speaker 1: It's just the most darling thing and I will treasure it. Uh. 420 00:24:58,040 --> 00:24:59,280 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us, you can 421 00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:02,280 Speaker 1: do so and his street podcast at house works dot com. 422 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:04,720 Speaker 1: You can also find us across the spectrum of social 423 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 1: media as Missed in History kind of visit us at 424 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:10,760 Speaker 1: our website missed in history dot com, where you'll find 425 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:14,040 Speaker 1: every episode of the show that's ever existed, including uh 426 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:16,399 Speaker 1: some reference notes of any of the shows that Tracy 427 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:18,560 Speaker 1: and I have worked on. And you can also just 428 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:20,399 Speaker 1: you know, root around in history and find out what 429 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:22,879 Speaker 1: we've been talking about all these years. So we welcome 430 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:30,520 Speaker 1: you at missed in history dot com. For more on 431 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:33,320 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics, visit how staff works 432 00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: dot com.