Product Details

• Actors: Scott Handy
• Directors: Chris Oxley
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: PBS
• DVD Release Date: February 28, 2006
• Run Time: 56 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000BKDNY4
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #81,950 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "NOVA: Newton's Dark Secrets" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

He was a 17th century Einstein, who reduced nature’s chaos to a single set of laws and revolutionized the thinking and outlook of his age. But in the midst of his astonishing breakthroughs in physics, optics, and calculus, Isaac Newton was also searching out hidden meanings in the Bible and pursuing the covert art of alchemy, or the changing of base metals into gold.

With vivid docudrama scenes starring Scott Handy (Henry VIII) as Newton, NOVA recreates the unique climate of late 17th-century England, where a newfound fascination with science and mathematics coexisted with extreme views on religious doctrine. Unknown to most, Newton shared both obsessions.

Besides revealing his secretive and vindictive personality, this NOVA special shows how he made the bold intellectual leaps that transformed science, such as the universal law of gravitation. Newton’s Dark Secrets also recreates one of Newton’s little-known alchemical experiments using his secret recipes, which have only recently been deciphered. With these lively glimpses of a brilliant and obsessive mind, NOVA explores how Newton became the giant on whose shoulders all later scientists would find a place to stand.

Special DVD features include: materials and activities for educators; a link to the NOVA Web site; scene selections; closed captions; and described video for the visually impaired.

On one DVD5 disc. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: Letterboxed.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of NOVA's better episodes on eminent men of science/math, November 25, 2005

By 

Irrational Expectations "Chris" (Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NOVA: Newton's Dark Secrets (DVD)

I saw this episode of NOVA when it was originally aired and I thought it was pretty enjoyable. I think its odd that of all the eminent men of science, Newton seems to have the least "air time" when it comes to these docu-dramas. Especially since Newton's orignal work is far greater then Einstein's (who didn't even develop any of the mathematics or even all of the methods he employed for his relativity theory), as well being more technically difficult to accomplish for the time.

Compared to the multitude of shows dedicated to Einstein (NOVA's "E=MC^2 , World's most famous equation" being the latest), I'd say this is defintilly a superior production. The theme is supposed to be Newton's inquiries into alchemy and other eccentric pursuits, but really it focuses on his life in general. The actor that played Newton was very belivable (well, to be accurate, it's how I would picture Newton, whether thats close to reality or not...).

I've read parts of "Never at Rest," what is hailed as the definitive biography of Newton and the from what I've read (and what was actually mentiond in this production) there seems to be no contradictions. It even mentions that the Principia is written entirely in the analytic geometry of Descartes (rather then the Calculus).

The facaulty they have interviewed for this production are very entertaining. Espeically the one MIT professor, Walter Lewin behaves so eccentricly that he seems like the cliche Physics professor of popular culture.

An issue I noticed that they have ignored completly, is the spat that Newton had with Leibniz on who discovered Calculus first. From my understanding this was a really ugly part of Newton's history (he used his academic position to sort of attack Leibniz credebility). But at least as pure mathematics is concerned, Leibniz is really the more important of the two . We have inherited the "infetesimal" (which later was formalizd more by Cauchy and the rest) as well as most of our notation (and the name "Calculus") from Leibniz.

In any event, the show seems to merely state the "facts" and does not (thankfully) speculate needlessely on Newton's peronal life (Allegations of homosexuality have been prevelent in several modern biographies of Newton, which seems to be somewhat unfounded). I also enjoyed the background music, it really set the mood for alot of the scenes (which were not annoyingly flashly like the "E=MC^2" production). I did notice that some of the background music was recycled from NOVA's much earlier production "The Proof" (about Andrew Wiles).

In conclusion, I'd give this production an A+, it presents relevent facts on Newton's life, and ties in his occult ideas pretty well with the continutiy of his more well known discoveries, and has very enjoyable aesthetics, acting, and organization.

All in all, I hope there are more of these docu-dramas on Newton in the future, as this is certainly an individual whose importance is central in the history of the West (and humankind).

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Four Thumbs Up at Our House, December 4, 2005

By 

Poniplaizy (Mount Joy, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NOVA: Newton's Dark Secrets (DVD)

We just stumbled on this show while watching TV one night, and we all found it riveting. It's very well-done and obviously thoroughly researched. What I liked best was that it conveyed Newton's character without glossing over his faults, but still sympathetically. None of us had learned much about him in school, so this aspect was pretty eye-opening. The only "fault" I can find is that the show just wasn't long enough to go into the kind of depth it left you wanting, or to talk much about the later part of Newton's life. However, there is also a bio that A&E did several years ago, and that does cover these areas. And there are some new books out that have gotten good reviews (though I haven't read them yet). This is a fascinating show and a good start if you want to know about an interesting character.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Work, January 11, 2007

By 

Keith Mirenberg - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: NOVA: Newton's Dark Secrets (DVD)

I think this is one of the finest documentaries I have ever watched on the life of our favorite physicist, Isaac Newton. It was beautifully done and the casting was excellent presenting an actor who resembled early drawings and paintings of Sir Isaac. In order to gain popular interest it was named "Newton's Dark Secrets" and documented his personal investigations into the occult arts including alchemy, numerology, and even bible predictions. I have read that a large number of his papers were burned around the time of his death, perhaps to conceal this portion of his interesting life from discovery. In any case, as mentioned by another writer it covered much more of his life than his occult interests. I found most interesting the fact that he did not wish to talk about or publish his early scientific studies, but once he was convinced to talk about them one had better believe what Isaac said or one would be in for a major "debate". I would rate this film five big stars for being informative, entertaining and just well done!