Customer Reviews

Isaac Newton: And the Scientific Revolution (Oxford Portraits in Science)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have never read a biography quite as good as this. This book has some of the best descriptions of Newton that I've ever heard: "Like Leonardo da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin, Isaac Newton was not just an aimless childhood tinkerer, but a tinkerer playing with ideas and mechanisms." It has so many interesting details about his life, such as the jumping contest at school, or the many different clocks that he made. This book made me realize that Newton wasn't just a great scientist, but a political figure as well, with a seat in Parliment, head of the Royal Society, and Director of the Mint. If it is possible, Cristianson would be my nominee for the Pulitzer Prize.

The book, Isaac Newton and the Scientific Revoultion, was a good book beacause it went futher than the inventions and into Isaac Newton, the man. The book showed his public and private fueds with rival scientists. The books also shows his emotions; lots of resenment and hate, love of the unknown, and joy of experinicng life to the fullest. The only bad part of the book was it was to fast; it didn't show enough of the discoverery, it raced along to show what happened to Newton after the discovery like his fame and how it destroyed his rivals. But in the end you feel like you knew Newton and lived in the Scientiic revolution.

This book gives an excellent portrayal of Isaac Newtons life and discoveries. It shows how a childhood dilemma leads to Isaacs will to succeed. It also depicts Newton`s social life with friends such as halley and John Locke. The book shows his feuds with rival inventors such as John Flamsteed. This book deserves 5 star for it depicts Newtons scientific genius inside his personal world.