Customer Reviews

Newton and the Culture of Newtonianism (The Control of Nature)

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Dobbs and Jacob provide a very good introduction to the history of science at a high school level. This is a rare thing in an academic discipline that, like many others, increasingly limits its audience to other specialists in the field. The chapters are well written and the book avoids being an excessively laudatory biography, despite its focus on one of the "Great Men" of science. If the book has one shortcoming it is that the chapters do not fit together well to form a coherent whole. It shows some of the roughness indicative of a cooperative work.

What a terrific introduction to the origins of modern science! The authors have provided a balanced, lucid and engaging treatment of a pivotal topic in modern science and culture. The book falls into two parts. The first section provides a thumbnail sketch of Newton's life and scientific achievements, written with a talent for abbreviated grace. The second section shifts to the multifaceted impact of Newton's achievement and surveys the origins of both the Enlightenment and the First Industrial Revolution with panache. The authors, top scholars in their fields, have written an excellent, short book on a big subject for students and the general reader. It's just what we need but rarely get.