Synopses & Reviews
James Gleick has long been fascinated by the making of science -- how ideas order visible appearances, how equations can give meaning to molecular and stellar phenomena, how theories can transform what we see. In
Chaos, he chronicled the emergence of a new way of looking at dynamic systems; in
Genius, he portrayed the wondrous dimensions of Richard Feymnan's mind. Now, in
Isaac Newton, he gives us the story of the scientist who, above all others, embodied humanity's quest to unveil the hidden forces that constitute the physical world.
In this original, sweeping, and intimate biography, Gleick moves between a comprehensive historical portrait and a dramatic focus on Newton's significant letters and unpublished notebooks to illuminate the real importance of his work in physics, in optics, and in calculus. He makes us see the old intuitive, alchemical universe out of which Newton's mathematics first arose and shows us how Newton's ideas have altered all forms of understanding from history to philosophy. And he gives us a moving account of the conflicting impulses that pulled at this man's heart: his quiet longings, his rage, his secrecy, the extraordinary subtleties of a personality that were mirrored in the invisible forces he first identified as the building blocks of science. More than biography, more than history, more than science, Isaac Newton tells us how, through the mind of one man, we have come to know our place in the cosmos.
Read by Allan Couruner.
Review
"A slender, thoroughly researched account of Newton's life, written in a spare sometimes lyrical prose style....What's most fascinating about [Newton], and what makes Gleick's biography so intriguing, is that Newton just sort of came up with things by himself, as if out of the blue....And incredibly, he got the right answers." Farhad Manjoo, Salon.com
Review
"Accurate and readable...Gleick has gone back to [Newton's] original notebooks and brought them to life. For casual reader with a serious interest in Newton's life and work, I recommend Gleick's biography as an excellent place to start." Freeman Dyson, The New York Review of Books
About the Author
James Gleick's three books,
Chaos, Genuis,and
Faster,have been translated into nearly thirty languages. Gleick, a former reporter and editor of the
New York Times,lives in New York.>
Allan Corduner starred as Sir Arthur Sullivan in Mike Leigh's Topsy Turvy. Other films include Moonlight Mile, The Green Zone, and Yentl. He has extensive theater credits on Broadway and in London's West End.