On a Grander Scale: The Outstanding Life and Tumultuous Times of Sir Christopher Wren [Paperback]

Lisa Jardine (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2004

Everything Sir Christopher Wren undertook, he envisaged on a grander scale -- bigger, better, more enduring than anything that had gone before. A versatile genius who could have pursued a number of brilliant careers with equal virtuosity, he was a mathematical prodigy, an accomplished astronomer, a skillful anatomist, and a founder of the Royal Society. Eventually, he made a career in what he described disparagingly in later life as "Rubbish" -- the architecture, design, and construction of public buildings.

Through the prism of Wren's tumultuous life and brilliant intellect, historian Lisa Jardine unfolds the vibrant, extraordinary emerging new world of late-seventeenth-century science and ideas.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is the second biography of Wren (1632-1723) to appear in the last year, following Adrian Tinniswood's His Invention So Fertile (Oxford). Renaissance scholar Jardine (Ingenious Pursuits: Building the Scientific Revolution, etc.) takes the cultural historical tack that has brought her scholarly renown, providing not only a nearly day-by-day account of the polymathic British architect's most important moments but minutely detailed background on institutions like the Royal Society and the Royal Observatory (along with the Order of the Garter), on developing science (blood transfusion, longitude) and on people: the royal families, Robert Hooke, John Evelyn. Wren was appointed to the Rebuilding Commission established after the devastating Great Fire of London in 1666, becoming in time responsible for the design and rebuilding of all 51 churches destroyed by the fire, and for the reconstruction of St. Paul's. By the time Wren came to that work by which he is best known, he had already achieved enormous distinction as a scientist, inventor and mathematician-and he was 34 years old. By 1689, he was at work renovating Hampton Court Palace for William and Mary, the third royal family he had served; in their reign, he was appointed surveyor of Westminster Abbey in 1698, a post he held until his death. To stick with Jardine requires a serious interest in Wren and period history. The rich documentation-the full text of private and public papers (e.g., letters of patent, royal warrants, correspondence, receipts, marginalia, excerpts from diaries) and 80 b&w illustrations and a 16-page color insert-may dizzy the reader who is not intimate with 17th century prose style, but will astonish those who are. And Jardine's discovery of an underground chamber in the Monument to the Great Fire is something any amateur sleuth will enjoy.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From The New Yorker

This engrossing biography charts Wren's trajectory from mathematical prodigy who invented transparent beehives and a copying machine to England's greatest architect, who rebuilt much of London—most famously St. Paul's Cathedral—after the Great Fire of 1666. Wren later claimed to regard all enterprises involving stone and mortar as "rubbish," and was prouder of his work as an astronomer and anatomist. His extraordinary versatility and industry give Jardine the opportunity to examine the political and scientific constellations of Restoration England. Such is her feel for the subject that, when she sees a long-forgotten basement room directly underneath Wren's Monument to the Great Fire, she immediately realizes that it is a laboratory—that the building was designed not only as a monument but also as a multipurpose scientific instrument, including "a zenith telescope, with lenses at ground and upper-platform levels."
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker

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Product Details

• Paperback: 624 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (February 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006095910X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060959104
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,140,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Terrific!, March 1, 2003

By 

Lauren S. Kahn (McLean, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: On a Grander Scale: The Outstanding Life of Sir Christopher Wren (Hardcover)

Christopher Wren, didn't he rebuild St. Paul's after the Great Fire. Yes, he did that--and rebuilt all those parish churches too. We all know that.

But, who knew that is father was the Dean of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and, in that capacity hid the records of the Order of the Garter during the Cromwell period?

Who knew that he helped to found the Royal Society (for the advancement of science)? That he was at one time a professor of astronomy.

In an age where half those born did not reach their first birthday, Christopher Wren, lived to be 91 years old. His achievements were monumental (pun intended) but they want far beyond the architecture we know about (which in his old age he referred to as "rubbish").

His was an astounding life. This book is well researched and superbly written. After reading this one, I went out and bought the author's life of Jane Austen (of course from Amazon).

Kudo's to the author and you all go out and buy (and read) this one!

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Well researched but trivial, May 16, 2005

By 

Michael R. Gallagher (Shenzhen, China) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: On a Grander Scale: The Outstanding Life of Sir Christopher Wren (Hardcover)

I admit that I approached this book hoping for more info about his architecture and scientific thinking. And also admittedly, the author straight off the bat says that if you are looking for pure architecture on Wren look at another book, or pure scientific theories of Wren also look at another book. However, I was hoping for a middle ground. The book delves more into the turbulence of the times and how that affected young Wren's monetary standing. Lots of info about minor characters. Lots of overly long and redundant quotes from archaicly written (obviously) source materials that the author has to paraphrase almost word for word after the quote. But very little info about the science or the architecture.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars reader if you require a monument, look around you, November 29, 2003

By 

Patricia A. Powell (gladstone, nj USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: On a Grander Scale: The Outstanding Life of Sir Christopher Wren (Hardcover)

"reader if you require a monument, look around you" (inscription of the plaque at Wren's tomb)

Sir Christopher Wren was born to a life of privilege that evaporated when Charles I was deposed. His father was Order of the Garter. Suddenly his family was in danger of losing life as well as property. These were Wren's student years. During this period Wren became pragmatic, and he survived.

It was the Restoration of Charles II to the throne of England that restored the fortunes of the Wren family. Too late for the father, but at precisely the right moment for the son. Charles II restored the monarchy, and restored the fortunes of Wren. The Restoration was an extraordinary period.

Wren was a Renaissance man, best known for his architecture, in particular St. Paul's Cathedral. But Wren also "mapped moons and the trajectories of comets" He "pursued astronomy and medicine during two civil wars."

This is a scholarly biography, and not light beach reading. Lisa Jardine's 85 pages of notes and an eighteen page bibliography may give some insight into how seriously she has taken her subject. On a Grander Scale is a detailed report on a fascinating time in England's history and one of the men that made it so. It is well done, accurate, and intellectually stimulating.