JAN WOOLF is beguiled by the tempting notion that Freud psychoanalysed Hitler in a comedy that explores the vulnerability of a damaged individual
Latest editorial
A man for all seasons
WILL PODMORE recommends an excellent and useful introduction to a lesser-known giant of the scientific revolution in Britain
A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS: (L to R) Church of St Mary Magdalene at Willen, Milton Keynes, designed by Hooke; An illustration of a flea “made by magnifying glasses with observations and inquiries thereupon, 1665”; a drawing of Saturn by Robert Hooke, 1666
[Chris Nyborg/CC; Public Domain] 
TONY BURKE reviews new releases from Cheikh Lo, Mishra & Deepa Shakthi, N’Faly Kouyate
Gin Lane by William Hogarth is a critique of 18th-century London’s growing funeral trade, posits DAN O’BRIEN
ANDY HEDGECOCK sees his scepticism lessened by a story is more complex and far-reaching than is initially apparent
MARK TURNER holds on tight for a mesmerising display of Neath-born ragtime virtuosity
ALAN MORRISON introduces a UK poet whose despised daytime occupation provides the subject for his writing
Robert Hooke’s experimental philosophy
Felicity Henderson, Reaktion Books, £17.95
ROBERT HOOKE (1635-1703) was one of the key figures in the development of science in Britain. This excellent study, illustrated with Hooke’s own drawings and diagrams, and with pictures of instruments he designed, expounds Hooke’s approach to science.
He was one of the first to see that the new experimental philosophy – what we today call science – had the potential to improve human life beyond recognition.
More from this author
WILL PODMORE welcomes the case put by a feminist, disentangling the abusive rhetoric of the trans rights debate
WILL PODMORE welcomes a timely and clear-eyed account of both Nato and Britain’s fatal role in the process that led to war in Ukraine
WILL PODMORE peruses a new history of the opening weeks of conflict between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia
WILL PODMORE is enthralled by the convincing case that guilds of Islamic craftsmen were responsible for the European gothic style
