The Geometry of Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke: A Walking Tour in London

Abstract

directions so that others may follow in your tracks. L ondon contains a wealth of architectural styles and buildings from many periods; for those interested in architecture it is a wonderful place to explore on foot. After the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed most of the old walled city of London, Sir Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke were appointed to the group charged with rebuilding London. Wren and Hooke, both founding members of the Royal Society, began a lifelong friendship and pattern of collaboration during their student days at Oxford. Until the Great Fire, they were best known for their work in mathematics, physics, and astronomy. Wren was at one time the Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford. As longtime Curator of Experiments for the Royal Society, Hooke had ‘‘to furnish them every day, on which they met, with three or four considerable experiments.’’ However, although the massive effort to rebuild London was led by both men, Wren’s enduring reputation is as an architect and Hooke’s is as a scientist. In the mid-seventeenth century, Inigo Jones brought the notion of ‘‘classical architecture’’ with all of its columns, domes, and Palladian windows to England. Many of these design elements had been rejected in the past as too ‘‘Catholic’’ for Henry VIII’s ‘‘protestant’’ England. But after the Great Fire, Wren and Hooke popularized this very geometric design style, using it in royal, public, and private buildings, as well as in places of worship. Wren has been credited with designing St. Paul’s Cathedral and more than fifty parish churches that were rebuilt in the City of London. Current scholarship indicates that the parish churches were most likely designed by Wren, Hooke, and others who worked under them. It is a difficult matter to determine attributions for most of the churches. Some hints can be found in parish vestry minutes and others in Hooke’s diaries (he was an avid diarist). It is clear from Hooke’s diaries that for decades he and Wren met nearly daily to discuss both architectural and scientific matters, which suggests that the design process was collaborative, with details executed by their apprentices. We know, from diaries, writings, and library lists, that Wren and Hooke had access to the canon of classical architectural texts of their day. These books by Alberti, Vitruvius, and Palladio all advocate geometry, proportion, and symmetry as the basis of architectural design. When seeking connections between Wren’s mathematics and architecture, many authors point to the strong use of geometry in his buildings. Derek Whiteside says of Wren, ‘‘Perhaps his greatest mathematical gift was his visual sensitivity and feeling for form which are obvious in his architectural designs and scientific sketches.’’ Wren himself states in Tract I: Geometrical Figures are naturally more beautiful than other irregular; in this all consent as to a Law of Nature. Of Please send all submissions to Mathematical Tourist Editor, Dirk Huylebrouck, Aartshertogstraat 42, 8400 Oostende, Belgium e-mail: huylebrouck@gmail.com