Lawrence Rooke (also Laurence) (1622–26 June 1662) was an English

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

and

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

. He was also one of the founders of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, although he died as it was being formally constituted.

Life

He was born in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

, and was a great-nephew through his mother of Lancelot Andrewes.C. A. Ronan, ''Laurence Rooke (1622–1662)'', Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 15, (Jul. 1960), pp. 113–118. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, where he graduated M.A. in 1647. He became a fellow commoner at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

in 1650, having dropped out of academia for a period because of bad health.''Concise Dictionary of National Biography'' Andrew Pyle (editor), ''Dictionary of Seventeenth Century British Philosophers'' (2000), p. 691. At Wadham he worked closely with

John Wilkins John Wilkins (14 February 1614 – 19 November 1672) was an English Anglican ministry, Anglican clergyman, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, and author, and was one of the founders of the Royal Society. He was Bishop of Chester from 1 ...

and Seth Ward. He became Professor of Astronomy at

Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England that does not accept students or award degrees. It was founded in 1597 under the Will (law), will of Sir Thomas Gresham, ...

in 1652, and then Professor of Geometry there, in 1657, an appointment in which

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

took an interest. He was unpublished in his lifetime, but left papers on

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...

and the

moons of Jupiter There are 97 Natural satellite, moons of Jupiter with confirmed orbits . This number does not include a number of meter-sized moonlets thought to be shed from the inner moons, nor hundreds of possible kilometer-sized outer irregular moons that ...

that were published posthumously. He also wrote at the Royal Society's request a set of directions for sailors, on the correct way to record meteorological and oceanographic observations on their travels. These appeared in volume 1 of the Royal Society's ''Philosophical Transactions'' as ''Directions for Sea-men, bound for far Voyages'' (Phil. Trans. 1665 1 140–143
doi:10.1098/rstl.1665.0066
Michael McKeon, ''The Origins of the English Novel, 1600–1740'' (2002), p. 102. Montes Rook, a circular mountain range on the moon, is named after Lawrence Rooke.

Notes

External links

Galileo Project page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rooke, Laurence 1622 births 1662 deaths 17th-century English astronomers 17th-century English mathematicians Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Founder fellows of the Royal Society Academics of Gresham College People educated at Eton College