[Review to] Robert Hooke’s Experimental Philosophy, by Felicity Henderson

This review discusses Felicity Henderson's Robert Hooke's Experimental Philosophy (Reaktion Books, 2024), which does not aim at a comprehensive biography but explores the relationship between Hooke's life, scientific method, and experimental thought. Drawing extensively on Hooke's diary, Henderson reconstructs his intellectual world with notable precision, correcting the historiographical image of an isolated, suspicious figure. She highlights the constant dialogue between science and craftsmanship underlying Hooke's epistemology, his challenge to the assumption that scientific credibility depended on social status, and the Baconian dimension of his thought on freeing the mind from prejudice. The book remains accessible while preserving scholarly rigor.