Theodore Haak, German scholar (d. 1690)
Theodore Haak (1605 in Neuhausen – 1690 in London) was a German Calvinist scholar, resident in England in later life. Haak's communications abilities and interests in the new science provided the backdrop for convening the "1645 Group", a precursor of the Royal Society.Although not himself known as a natural philosopher, Haak's engagement with others facilitated the expansion and diffusion of the “new science” throughout Europe. Haak's language skills were used in translation and interpretation and his personal correspondence with the natural philosophers and theologians of the day, including Marin Mersenne and Johann Amos Comenius; he facilitated introductions and further collaborations. Beginning in 1645 he worked as a translator on the Dutch Annotations Upon the Whole Bible (1657). The first German translation of John Milton's Paradise Lost is perhaps his best known single work.