Isaac Newton
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Average rating3.6
Isaac Newton was born in a stone farmhouse in 1642, fatherless and unwanted by his mother. When he died in London in 1727 he was so renowned he was given a state funeral—an unheard-of honor for a subject whose achievements were in the realm of the intellect. During the years he was an irascible presence at Trinity College, Cambridge, Newton imagined properties of nature and gave them names—mass, gravity, velocity—things our science now takes for granted. Inspired by Aristotle, spurred on by Galileo’s discoveries and the philosophy of Descartes, Newton grasped the intangible and dared to take its measure, a leap of the mind unparalleled in his generation. James Gleick, the author of Chaos and Genius, and one of the most acclaimed science writers of his generation, brings the reader into Newton’s reclusive life and provides startlingly clear explanations of the concepts that changed forever our perception of bodies, rest, and motion—ideas so basic to the twenty-first century, it can truly be said: We are all Newtonians.
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Great, concise biography of the man that discovered the fundamental mechanics of the universe, from the author of the excellent ‘The Information'.
Newton made our natural world absolute and mathematical. He's the point at which Physics and Philosophy split paths. Suddenly the world was deterministic, they could predict solar eclipses and the path of comets. Gods, myths and the unknown had to retreat.
A fascinating biography of the man who triggered that monumental change. Who had to grapple new concepts and assign words to novel phenomena (gravity!). A scholar who equally dabbled in natural sciences yet also was obsessed with alchemy and religion. A shut-in who discovered optics and the laws of motion, yet kept that knowledge to himself, refusing to publish because he liked nothing less than dispute with scientists of opposing believes. And yet he quarreled a lot, with Robert Hooke, and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. Newton came out on top, and even ended his life quite wealthy, minting coins for the King, and presiding over the The Royal Society.
Hard to imagine that any future scientific discovery would ever have such a monumental effect over our world views again. And if yes, it'll be scary.
Short review: I probably should have put more effort into this. But I read half and then then it was due back at the library. I was not into the book enough to try and wait in line to check it out again.
Full review at http://bookwi.se/newton-gleick/
