The Essay

Why were Pepys, Charles II and Christopher Wren all pre-occupied by lenses? Because the microscope, with Robert Hooke's help, was one of the great novelties of the age for the learned. Jonathan Sawday charts how science became one of the unexpected beneficiaries of Charles II's Restoration and how the visual impact of science - the world seen through a lens - offered new ways of thinking about the world around them. Producers: Hannah Godfrey and Matthew Dodd.