The Myths of the Founding of Rome

The Myths of the Founding of Rome By tradition, the city of Rome was founded in 753 B.C.* The stories  about the founding of Rome are conflicting, but there are two main founding figures to look out for: Romulus (after whom the city may have been named) and Aeneas. It is also possible that Evander of Arcadia founded Rome. Much of the information on the founding of Rome comes from the first book of Livys history of Rome. Aeneas as Founder of Rome The Trojan prince Aeneas, an important figure linking the Romans with the Trojans and the goddess Venus, is sometimes credited with the founding of Rome as the culmination of his post-Trojan War adventures, but the version of the Roman foundation myth that is most familiar is that of Romulus, the first king of Rome.   The Romulus and Remus Myth Romulus and Remus were twin brothers, the sons of a vestal virgin named Rhea Silvia (also called Ilia) and the god Mars, according to legend. Since vestal virgins could be buried alive if they violated their chastity vows, whoever forced Rhea Silvia to enter the equivalent of an ancient convent assumed that Rhea Silvia would remain childless. The grandfather and great-uncle of the twins were Numitor and Amulius, who between them divided the wealth and kingdom of Alba Longa (a city founded by Aeneas son Ascanius), but then Amulius seized Numitors share and became sole ruler. To prevent retaliation by the offspring of his brother, Amulius made his niece a vestal virgin. When Rhea became pregnant, her life was spared because of the special pleading of Amulius daughter Antho. Although she kept her life, Rhea was imprisoned. Contrary to plan, the virgin Rhea was impregnated by the god Mars. When the twin boys were born, Amulius wished to have them killed, and so bid someone, perhaps Faustulus, a swineherd, expose the boys. Faustulus left the twins on the river bank where a she-wolf nursed them, and a woodpecker fed and guarded them until Faustulus took them into his care again. The two boys were well educated by Faustulus and his wife, Acca Larentia. They grew up to be strong and attractive. They say that his name was Faustulus; and that they were carried by him to his homestead and given to his wife Larentia to be brought up. Some are of the opinion that Larentia was called Lupa among the shepherds from her being a common prostitute, and hence an opening was afforded for the marvellous story.- Livy Book I As adults, Remus found himself imprisoned, and in the presence of Numitor, who determined from his age that Remus and his twin brother could be his grandsons. Learning of Remus predicament, Faustulus told Romulus the truth of his birth and sent him off to rescue his brother. Amulius was despised, and so Romulus drew a crowd of supporters as he approached Alba Longa to kill the king. The twins re-installed their grandfather Numitor on the throne and freed their mother who had been imprisoned for her crime. The Establishment of Rome Since Numitor now ruled Alba Longa, the boys needed their own kingdom and settled in the area in which they had been raised, but the two young men couldnt decide on the exact site and started building separate sets of walls around different hills: Romulus, around the Palatine; Remus, around the Aventine. There they took auguries to see which area the gods favored. On the basis of conflicting omens, each twin claimed his was the site of the city. An angry Remus jumped over Romulus wall and Romulus killed him. Rome was therefore named after Romulus: A more common account is that Remus, in derision of his brother, leaped over the newly-erected walls, and was thereupon slain by Romulus in a fit of passion, who, mocking him, added words to this effect: So perish every one hereafter, who shall leap over my walls. Thus Romulus obtained possession of supreme power for himself alone. The city, when built, was called after the name of its founder.- Livy Book I Aeneas and Alba Longa Aeneas, son of the goddess Venus and the mortal Anchises, left the burning city of Troy at the end of the Trojan War, with his son Ascanius. After many adventures, which the Roman poet Vergil or Virgil describes in the Aeneid, Aeneas and his son arrived at the city of Laurentum on the west coast of Italy. Aeneas married Lavinia, the daughter of a local king, Latinus, and founded the town of Lavinium in honor of his wife. Ascanius, son of Aeneas, decided to build a new city, which he named Alba Longa, under the Alban mountain. Alba Longa was the hometown of Romulus and Remus, who were separated from Aeneas by about a dozen generations. Aeneas was hospitably entertained at the house of Latinus; there Latinus, in the presence of his household gods, cemented the public league by a family one, by giving Aeneas his daughter in marriage. This event fully confirmed the Trojans in the hope of at length terminating their wanderings by a lasting and permanent settlement. They built a town, which Aeneas called Lavinium after the name of his wife. Shortly afterward also, a son was the issue of the recently concluded marriage, to whom his parents gave the name of Ascanius.- Livy Book I Plutarch on Possible Founders of Rome ... Roma, from whom this city was so called, was the daughter of Italus and Leucaria; or, by another account, of Telephus, Herculess son, and that she was married to Aeneas, or ... to Ascanius, Aeneass son. Some tell us that Romanus, the son of Ulysses and Circe, built it; some, Romus the son of Emathion, Diomede having sent him from Troy; and others, Romus, king of the Latins, after driving out the Tyrrhenians, who had come from Thessaly into Lydia, and from thence into Italy.- Plutarch Isidore of Seville on Evander and the Founding of Rome There is a line (313) in the 8th book of the Aeneid that suggests Evander of Arcadia founded Rome. Isidore of Seville reports this as one of the stories told about the founding of Rome.   A banishd band,Drivn with Evander from th Arcadian land,Have planted here, and placd on high their walls;Their town the founder Pallanteum calls,Derivd from Pallas, his great-grandsires name:But the fierce Latians old possession claim,With war infesting the new colony.These make thy friends, and on their aid rely.- Dryden translation from Book 8 of the Aeneid. Points to Note About the Roman Founding Legend Rome was founded on 21 April 753 B.C., according to tradition. It was celebrated in Rome with the festival of Parilia.Because a woodpecker tended to the twins, the woodpecker was sacred to Rome.In some versions of the story, Rhea was drowned and then married the river god Tiber.When Faustulus first let the twins go, they floated into the river and then washed ashore at the base of a fig tree. This was the site where they built their city.In some versions, Acca Larentalia was a prostitute.The stories of the founding of Rome are just that, stories. The legends, as a whole, are not confirmed by tangible evidence although they can be used to help interpret some bits of archaeological data. * 753 B.C. is an important year to know since some Romans reckoned their years from this beginning time (ab urbe condita), although the names of the consuls were more commonly used to pinpoint a year. When viewing Roman dates you may see them listed as xyz year A.U.C., which means xyz years from (after) the founding of the city. You might write the year 44 B.C. as 710 A.U.C. and the year A.D. 2010 as 2763 A.U.C.; the latter, in other words, 2763 years from the founding of Rome.

Gender differences in unionization rates in Canada Research Paper

Gender differences in unionization rates in Canada - Research Paper Example For this reason, there is a need to study the variations that exist in gender rates in unionization in order to understand the underlying causes of why people are joining or leaving unions. This paper looks into detail the variations that has existed in gender unionization rates in Canada and the reasons as to why there exists such variations. This is important as it will ensure that authorities can understand why people are not joining unions by having concrete facts and data at their disposal. The purpose of this study is to understand the gender variations that exists in unionization levels and why the variations exists. The study looks into data from the 1980’s to 2013 and examines the differences and the fluctuations that has existed in unionization rates and explains why there have been such variations. This research paper utilizes information from various governmental and nongovernmental organizations databases. It further looks into different journal articles and books in order to get information regarding unionization rates in Canada. In particular, this research paper utilizes information from Statistics in Canada in the interpretation of the graph. The information from the government databases and journal articles is reliable and consequently the information in this research paper can be described as factual and precise. From the year 1982 to the year 2013, the overall unionization rate in Canada has decreased. The unionization rate is often defined as the proportion of employees that are union members. The number has substantially declined over the years, in this research paper; the trends in unionization rates especially examined under gender will be studied. It is imperative to understand that the decline in unionization in Canada is not a recent phenomenon and in fact, the unionization rate fell through the years 1980’s to the year

Immigration Marriage Fraud in Canada Research Paper

Immigration Marriage Fraud in Canada - Research Paper Example Under the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, one of the major objectives is to assist families to reunite. It therefore follows that, permanent residents and Canadian citizens may undertake to sponsor their partners or spouse to enable then obtain permanent residence in Canada (Ward and Belanger 2010). However, this Act has been continuously abused by some individuals who enter into marriage for convenience to defeat the Canadian immigration laws and gain permanent resident in Canada. Fraudulent marriage may take two forms: One, spouse may pretend to be in a relationship that is genuine so that it can be easy for the partner who is being sponsored to gain entry into Canada while on the other hand the sponsoring partner may be given some kind of benefits either financial or other kind in return for the sponsorship. The second kind of fraudulent marriage or marriage of convenience is where one of the spouses genuinely gets into a relationship not knowing that his or her partner only wants to use the relationship to get Canadian permanent resident status (Magana 2003). Under the two instances of marriage of convenience, the relationship is terminated soon after the person who is sponsored gain permanent resident status in Canada, thus marriage of convenience or fraudulent marriages weakens the Canadian immigration system not to mention the difficulty that such fraudulent marriage present especially to the immigrants who are genuine in their endeavors. A case in mind is the recent incident where a young Indian boy committed suicide after his wife married him in India, immigrated to Canada, and walked out on him once she became a Permanent Resident. Gurdip Singh Saroya an Indian man had married his wife Harmanjit Kaur Dhami who arrived in Canada on October 12 to reunite with her husband, on arrival; however, she would not allow her husband to touch her. She insisted that she wanted to go and stay in Toronto on her own. Unable to come into terms with this news Gurdip Singh Saroya her husband could not swallow this emotional fraud from his wife anymore, on one Monday morning, Gurdip Singh Saroya committed suicide by jumping off the Pattullo Bridge. The family of Gurdip Singh Saroya is convinced that the actions of Harmanjit Kaur Dhami the fraud wife as they call her was to blame for their sons’ death. They have a strong conviction that Harmanjit Kaur Dhami persistence to move to Toronto to stay alone severely affected Gurdip Si ngh Saroya as he realized that he was in a marriage that was strange and unworkable. The family of Gurdip Singh Saroya are also convinced that Harmanjit Kaur Dhami only used her marriage to their son for convenience purposes to gain permanent resident to Canada. In Canada, an individual commits a marriage fraud when he or she enters into marriage for purposes of getting the requisites to attain permanent resident in Canada. For this reason, when a foreign spouse is helped to gain entry into the country and within a short time walks out of the marriage, these spouses automatically subscribes to their community support system which constitutes a marriage fraud. Basically, the institution of marriage is a union that is sacred, and in instances where one of the party to the marriage has genuine feelings and intentions while the other party mostly the party who is sponsored to get entry into Canada, has a deceptive intention of gaining permanent entry into the country, the very core valu es of marriage are defeated and as such that marriage never existed in the first place. The veil behind immigrants’ marriage must therefore be lifted to establish the true intentions of the parties intending

Tuition Reimbursement Paper Essay Example for Free

Tuition Reimbursement Paper Essay Often regret their decision. Adults with this degree find that they do not need to prove themselves in every position as much as those with a two-year degrees. Applicants with four-year degrees are hired before two-year degree applicants in most white collar career fields. Upward Mobility-adults with bachelor degrees have greater opportunities for corporate upward mobility, than those without this degree. Scholarships and Grants-Most scholarships and many grants are only eligible to students enrolled in bachelor degree programs. Cost-the tuition costs for a bachelors degree is more expensive compared to nrolling in an associate program. The average cost was $13,424 per academic year for public four-year schools and $30,393 for private four-year schools in 2008 (National Center for Educational Statistics, Fast Facts, 2007-2008). Student Loan debt often places graduates in financial hardship for years following graduation. One thing about the money is that the company will be helping the employees with the tuition so it will be a little easier for them to get started with the program. The employees wont have to worry about getting in debt. Since we have been doing so ood this year, we have provided a budget for this program and any employees who want to go back to college. This is not mandatory for employees. This program will be for employees who are interested in going back to school and dont already have a bachelors degree ( even if they have an associates degree). Some benefits of a bachelors degree According to http://www. ehow. com/facts_5139903 _benefits-bachelors-degree. html and the U. S. Census Bureau, the average lifetime earnings of someone with a bachelors degree is $2. million. A high school graduate can expect to earn $1. 2 illion over his or her lifetime, while a person holding an associates degree can expect average lifetime earnings of $1. 6 million. People with bachelors degrees have higher savings because of their higher incomes, so they can engage in more hobbies and participate in more leisure activities. When it comes to skills, the skills n ecessary to succeed in college and earn a bachelors degree are time management, responsibility, critical thinking skills, ability to communicate. These skills come into play at work as well. It is also important to choose the right college too. The type of ollege that the employees choice will be very important because accredited colleges will be looked for in resumes when hiring. Employers want people not only to have a good education, but to have an education from a really good college. Degrees from accredited colleges and universities are typically valued higher than degrees from schools that are not accredited because of the standards they must meet. Benefits for the company There are many benefits for the employees for getting their bachelors degree. But, there are also great benefits for a company that hires employees who have their achelors degree. One of the benefits is having more time to spend towards the company. Employers wont have to worry about training new employees if they have the experience and skills needed for the Job. Employers can spend that time on things they need to do for the company and less time trying to teach new employers things they should already know. Also, having employees who have a good education from good schools are always well respected for having highly educated employees. It makes the company look good and gives them a good reputation.

Comparing Gender-Crossing in Girlfight and Billy Elliot :: Compare Contrast Comparison Essays

Comparing Gender-Crossing in Girlfight and Billy Elliot It seems that the year 2000 was one full of gender-bending films, including Girlfight, starring Michelle Rodriguez. This movie was about Diana, a troubled teenage girl from the projects of New York City. Sent on an errand for her father one day, Diana discovers the secret world of boxing at a gym in Brooklyn. She watches her brother unenthusiastically box in the ring, and then tries to convince the coach to work with her. With time, she starts competing with other lightweights - both male and female. With this newfound confidence, she pulls herself together at school and is able to stay out of trouble. Also made in 2000 was Billy Eliot, starring Jamie Bell, about a boy in Northern England who schleps to weekly boxing classes only to encounter reoccurring defeat in the ring, similar to Diana's brother Tiny in Girlfight. One day, a bunch of tutu-ed girls and their sour instructor begin sharing the space at the gym. All of sudden, Billy becomes hopelessly passionate about dance. Like Diana, Billy rejects conventional gender roles but must hide his new love from his chauvinistic father. The parallels between Girlfight and Billy Elliot are uncanny. Both Diana and Billy enter sports that are not typical for their genders but somehow draw inspiration from the love of their deceased mothers and withstand the rejection from the rest of society. Furthermore, each film ends with triumph - Diana wins the match against her boyfriend, and Billy becomes a ballet star and flies across the stage as the male lead in Swan Lake. Both individuals have tread against the conventions of society. And ironically, in both films, boxing is seen as the epitome of male sport. What happens in the "real world," when individuals enter sports not traditional for their genders? Certainly, it seems that both films revealed realistic outcomes for gender crossing in sports, although Girlfight and Billy Elliot seemed to focus only on the negative social and cultural implications of gender crossing in sports. First of all, gender roles are a very important issue. According to Diana's father and most of the coaches working at the gym, boxing was "a man's sport." In the film Girlfight, Diana was only seen fighting one other girl, while all of her other competitors were male. Furthermore, Diana was the only female practicing at the Brooklyn boxing gym. For anyone walking into the gym, the idea that boxing is in the male realm become perpetuated.

Criminal Law Foundations evaluation paper Essay

The Juvenile Justice System Juvenile justice is the section of law that applies to persons under the age of 18 not capable of receiving sentencing in the adult court system or old enough to be responsible for criminal acts committed in society. In most states the age of criminal culpability is 18 however, the age requirement can be set lower in accordance to certain crimes and statutes set by the state the juvenile lives in. Juvenile law is primarily run by state law and most states enforce a specific juvenile code the system follows. The juvenile justice system primarily focuses on rehabilitation rather than punishment for youthful offenders. Society appears to concentrate that children are more capable of change than adult offenders more capable of knowing right from wrong (â€Å"Cornell University Law School,† n.d.). The statutes creating the juvenile court systems and methods of allocating with juvenile delinquency are run by courts as a suitable extension of state police power to warrant the safety and welfare of children in the system. The doctrine of parens patriae allows the state to promulgate for the safeguard, care, custody, and upkeep of children within its jurisdiction. In 1968 the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention and Control Act was put into effect, and in 1972 it was put into revision as the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Act. This act set forth to assist states in dealing with juvenile delinquent acts and assist communities to prevent delinquency by providing services to the community and youths in high risk of subduing to criminal activity (â€Å"Cornell University Law School,† n.d.). The Federal Juvenile Delinquency Act describes juvenile delinquency as an act that is a criminal but is set forth by a youth under 18 years of age. It applies rules that state laws must abide by with concern to juvenile court processes and reprimands (â€Å"Cornell University Law School,† n.d.). Comparison of Juvenile and Adult Courts There are major differences in procedure between the juvenile and adult court systems. In the juvenile system the defendant does not receive a jury trial. The juvenile goes before a judge who decides if a law was broken and what the appropriate punishment is for the youthful offender. Bail that is also commonly used in the adult system is normally not given to minors in the juvenile system. For a juvenile to be free before adjudication, he or she must prove, they are not a flight risk or a further danger to society. Juvenile courtrooms, unlike adult courts are also not open to the public or media because of preserving the privacy of minors in the system (â€Å"Just Cause Law Collective,† 2007). Oddly, punishments for juveniles for smaller offenses are sometimes more strict than an adult would face. Probation sentences can be much longer and have many additional terms, such as keeping up grades in school, obeying his or her parents, and abiding by a curfew. Juveniles facing punishment for more serious offenses however do stand a better chance of early release where most adult offenders could face up to life in prison for the same crime. This happens as a result of most juvenile sentences ending once the youth reaches his or her twenties (â€Å"Just Cause Law Collective,† 2007). Constitutional Safeguards Criminal juvenile proceedings are kept private when the criminal is juvenile. Juvenile records are also sealed when the juvenile becomes an adult. Names are on ice from newspapers and news reporters unlike in adult criminal cases. Court cases for juveniles are secure to the public with only people pertinent to the case being allowed into the courtroom to protect the identity of the juvenile. Safeguards for juveniles differ from those of adults because juvenile proceedings are kept private whereas those for adults are open to the public. The identity of an adult is public record and their crimes do not get sealed away after a certain amount of time. While juveniles seem to be safe more than adults there are safeguards in place to protect adults as well, such as double jeopardy, which means a person cannot be in accusation for the same crime twice. If adult and juvenile case procedures were the same many juveniles would have criminal records going into adulthood for minor offenses or even just mistakes in judgment that could affect his or her future. Adults have a better understanding of the laws and what is right and wrong in addition the consequences of their choices than juveniles do. A juvenile waiver is occurs when a judge transfers a juvenile into the adult court system. This method releases the juvenile from any protection the youth would have under the juvenile court system. At this point the child is put through the same court process an adult offender would face. In most states the average age a youth would be set forth into the adult system is 17; however in some cases children as young as 13 have faced adult trials. Normally a waiver into the adult courts is put into effect because of a long history of offenses by the juvenile or if the crime is well thought-out to be serious or severely heinous. In 1997 28 states had already put into exclusion the offense of murder from the juvenile system. This meaning that a youth would be sent directly into the adult system if he or she was facing such a charge. This number is most likely going to increase that has put more emphasis on the debate of juveniles sent into the adult system. According to â€Å"Findlaw† (2012), â€Å"Some states also have a legal provision which allows the prosecutor to file a juvenile case in both juvenile and adult court. This takes place when the offense and the age of the youth meet certain criteria. Prosecutorial transfer does not have to meet the due process requirement. Approximately 15 states currently have this provision† (Juvenile â€Å"Waiver† (Transfer to Adult Court)). The most land marking case guiding juvenile waivers is Breed vs. Jones that took place in 1975. This case set forth the rule that a youth cannot be adjudicated in the juvenile system and waived into the adult system. This protects the youth under the double jeopardy law. Realistically this case appears not to have much impact on the juvenile system because juveniles can go through a waiver hearing similar to a trial except for the outcomes (â€Å"Findlaw,† 2012). Remanding Juveniles to Adult Courts Over the last several decades remanding a youth into the adult court system has grown in popularity. The public and courts have made it very easy to take a child out of the juvenile system and place him or her into the hands of the adult courts. Most members of society see these measures as a form of fear because of the increase in violent crimes that today’s youth are participating in. State legislatures enacted statutes that extended the age and offense reach of judicial waiver, legislative waiver, automatic transfer, and prosecutorial discretion and concurrent jurisdiction policies that in return has paved the road of sending children into the adult system very smooth. Some states have provisions in which a child can be sent to adult courts regardless of the offense (â€Å"Campaign for Youth Justice,† 2010). Studies prove that more than 200,000 youths under the age of 18 face sentencing in adult courts. Despite that there has been a decrease in juvenile crime over the past few years; provisions making it easier to prosecute juveniles in the adult court system keep increasing. In today’s current time it appears the scale-weighs in favor of punishing children instead of rehabilitating them into productive members of society (â€Å"Campaign for Youth Justice,† 2010). The Miranda Warning The Miranda Warning is a police notice set to criminal defendants brought into custody of law enforcement in the United States before they can ask questions in regard to what took place during the crime they are facing charges with. Law enforcement officials can only ask for precise information such as name, date of birth, and address without reading the suspects his or her Miranda warnings. Confessions and other information that an individual provides him or her will not be well thought-out admissible evidence unless the individual is aware of and give up his or her Miranda rights. Threatening or forcible methods of police interrogation were once generally referred to as undergoing the third degree. Today, as defense against any likelihood of police intimidation, society has the Miranda Warning (â€Å"Mirandawarning.org,† 2010). In 1968 the final version for the Miranda Warning was set by California deputy attorney general Doris Maier and district attorney Harold Berliner. Before the establishment of the Miranda Warning, confessions had only to be intentional on the suspect. This made a difficult situation for law enforcement, who often met with evidence at trials that the defendant was not of sound mind or were under indirect pressure when he or she gave his or her confessions. The Miranda Warning protects society’s rights by clarifying his or her choices clearly and supports police power when law enforcement properly reads the Miranda Warning and gets clear, intellectual answers that the suspect understands his or her rights as they have been clear up. The Miranda Warning is a legal requirement all over the United States, and differs only slightly in wording in different states (â€Å"Mirandawarning.org,† 2010). References Campaign for Youth Justice. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.campaignforyouthjustice.org/documents/UCLA-Literature-Review.pdf Cornell University Law School. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/Juvenile_justice FindLaw. (2012). Retrieved from http://criminal.findlaw.com/juvenile-justice/juvenile-waiver-transfer-to-adult-court.html Jones, W. G. (2006). U.S. Departemnt of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/usermanuals/courts/chapterfour.cfm Just Cause Law Collective. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.lawcollective.org/article.php?id=64 MirandaWarning.org. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.mirandawarning.org/

Biography of Robert Hooke, the Man Who Discovered Cells

Robert Hooke (July 18, 1635–March 3, 1703) was a 17th-century natural philosopher—an early scientist—noted for a variety of observations of the natural world. But perhaps his most notable discovery came in 1665 when he looked at a sliver of cork through a microscope lens and discovered cells. Fast Facts: Robert Hooke Known For: Experiments with a microscope, including the discovery of cells, and coining of the termBorn: July 18, 1635 in Freshwater, the Isle of Wight, EnglandParents: John Hooke, vicar of Freshwater and his second wife Cecily GylesDied: March 3, 1703 in LondonEducation: Westminster in London, and Christ Church at Oxford, as a laboratory assistant of Robert BoylePublished Works: Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses with Observations and Inquiries Thereupon Early Life Robert Hooke was born July 18, 1635, in Freshwater on the Isle of Wight off the southern coast of England, the son of the vicar of Freshwater John Hooke and his second wife Cecily Gates. His health was delicate as a child, so Robert was kept at home until after his father died. In 1648, when Hooke was 13, he went to London and was first apprenticed to painter Peter Lely and proved fairly good at the art, but he left because the fumes affected him. He enrolled at Westminster School in London, where he received a solid academic education including Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and also gained training as an instrument maker. He later went on to Oxford and, as a product of Westminster, entered Christ Church college, where he became the friend and laboratory assistant of Robert Boyle, best known for his natural law of gases known as Boyles Law. Hooke invented a wide range of things at Christ Church, including a balance spring for watches, but he published few of them. He did publish a tract on capillary attraction in 1661, and it was that treatise the brought him to the attention of the Royal Society for Promoting Natural History, founded just a year earlier. The Royal Society The Royal Society for Promoting Natural History (or Royal Society) was founded in November 1660 as a group of like-minded scholars. It was not associated with a particular university but rather funded under the patronage of the British king Charles II. Members during Hookes day included Boyle, the architect Christopher Wren, and the natural philosophers John Wilkins and Isaac Newton; today, it boasts 1,600 fellows from around the world. In 1662, the Royal Society offered Hooke the initially unpaid curator position, to furnish the society with three or four experiments each week—they promised to pay him as soon as the society had the money. Hooke did eventually get paid for the curatorship, and when he was named a professor of geometry, he gained housing at Gresham college. Hooke remained in those positions for the rest of his life; they offered him the opportunity to research whatever interested him. Observations and Discoveries Hooke was, like many of the members of the Royal Society, wide-reaching in his interests. Fascinated by seafaring and navigation, Hooke invented a depth sounder and water sampler. In September 1663, he began keeping daily weather records, hoping that would lead to reasonable weather predictions. He invented or improved all five basic meteorological instruments (the barometer, thermometer, hydroscope, rain gauge, and wind gauge), and developed and printed a form to record weather data. Some 40 years before Hooke joined the Royal Society, Galileo had invented the microscope (called an occhiolino  at the time, or wink in Italian); as curator, Hooke bought a commercial version and began an extremely wide and varying amount of research with it, looking at plants, molds, sand, and fleas. Among his discoveries were fossil shells in sand (now recognized as foraminifera), spores in mold, and the bloodsucking practices of mosquitoes and lice. Discovery of the Cell Hooke is best known today for his identification of the cellular structure of plants. When he looked at a sliver of cork through his microscope, he noticed some pores or cells in it. Hooke believed the cells had served as containers for the noble juices or fibrous threads of the once-living cork tree. He thought these cells existed only in plants, since he and his scientific contemporaries had observed the structures only in plant material. Nine months of experiments and observations are recorded in his 1665 book Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses with Observations and Inquiries Thereupon, the first book describing observations made through a microscope. It featured many drawings, some of which have been attributed to Christopher Wren, such as that of a detailed flea observed through the microscope. Hooke was the first person to use the word cell to identify microscopic structures when he was describing cork. His other observations and discoveries include: Hookes Law: A  law of elasticity for solid bodies, which described how tension increases and decreases in a spring coilVarious observations on the nature of gravity, as well as heavenly bodies such as comets and planetsThe nature of fossilization, and its implications for biological history Death and Legacy Hooke was a brilliant scientist, a pious Christian, and a difficult and impatient man. What kept him from true success was a lack of interest in mathematics. Many of his ideas inspired and were completed by others in and outside of the Royal Society, such as the Dutch pioneer microbiologist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723), navigator and geographer William Dampier (1652–1715), geologist Niels Stenson (better known as Steno, 1638–1686), and Hookes personal nemesis, Isaac Newton (1642–1727). When the Royal Society published Newtons Principia in 1686, Hooke accused him of plagiarism, a situation so profoundly affecting Newton that he put off publishing Optics until after Hooke was dead. Hooke kept a diary in which he discussed his infirmities, which were many, but although it doesnt have literary merit like Samuel Pepys, it also describes many details of daily life in London after the Great Fire. He died, suffering from scurvy and other unnamed and unknown illnesses, on March 3, 1703. He neither married nor had children. Sources Egerton, Frank N. A History of the Ecological Sciences, Part 16: Robert Hooke and the Royal Society of London. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 86.2 (2005): 93–101. Print.Jardine, Lisa. Monuments and Microscopes: Scientific Thinking on a Grand Scale in the Early Royal Society. Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London 55.2 (2001): 289–308. Print.Nakajima, Hideto. Robert Hookes Family and His Youth: Some New Evidence from the Will of the Rev. John Hooke. Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London 48.1 (1994): 11–16. Print.Whitrow, G. J. Robert Hooke. Philosophy of Science 5.4 (1938): 493–502. Print.