In 1660 Hooke discovered the law of elasticity which bears his name in the course of developing the balance spring for clocks and watches to enable them to keep accurate time. He also proposed the use of such a watch to aid navigation at sea.

In 1661, a year after it was formed, the Royal Society engaged Hooke to be its curator of experiments. He invented and demonstrated many experiments across the fields of physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology and engineering. He was elected as a Fellow in 1663 (aged 28).

Hooke was appointed Surveyor to the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666 and played a major role in the rebuilding of the City working with Christopher Wren. The engineering design for the dome of the rebuilt St Paul’s Cathedral was carried out by Hooke. He and Wren also designed the Monument to the fire to be a telescope for observing astronomical transits. A true engineering polymath whose work on rebuilding London is a brilliant exemplar for SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).