Newton's Apple: Isaac Newton and the English Scientific Renaissance [Hardcover]

Peter Aughton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2004

In the aftermath of the English Civil War, the Restoration overturned England's medieval outlook and a new way of looking at the world allowed the genius of Isaac Newton (b. 1642) and his contemporaries to flourish. Newton had a long and eventful life apart from his scentific discoveries. He was born at the beginnings of the Civil War, his studies were disrupted by the twin disasters of the Great Plague and the Fire of London; a brilliant and enigmatic genius, Newton dabbled in alchemy, wrote over a million words on the Bible, quarrelled with his contemporaries and spent his last years as Master of the Royal Mint as well as President of the Royal Society. This book sets Newton's life and work against this dramatic intellectual rebirth; among his friends and contemporaries were Samuel Pepys, the colourful diarist, John Evelyn, the eccentric antiquarian, the astronomers Edmund Halley and John Flamsteed, and Christopher Wren, the greatest architect of his age. They were all instrumental in the founding of the Royal Society and their aim was nothing less than to examine the whole field of scientific knowledge.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Finished copies have now gone out for review. Paul is being interviewed on BBC RADIO BRISTOL on 12 June BBC RADIO LINCOLNSHIRE on 10 August. There have been local reviews in the BRISTOL OBSERVER and BRISTOL EVENING POST. THE NEW SCIENTIST are definitely reviewing and there was a good review in THE FINANCIAL TIMES this weekend: 'this accessible portrait'THE FINANCIAL TIMES 'this book

About the Author

Peter Aughton lectures at the University of the West of England. He is an expert on computers, mathematics and astronomy as well as being a gifted story teller who can turn the world of science and history into a wonderland of imagination and discovery.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: George Weidenfeld & Nicholson (March 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0297843214
• ISBN-13: 978-0297843214
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,123,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tasty, March 13, 2006

By 

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

This review is from: Newton's Apple: Isaac Newton and the English Scientific Renaissance (Hardcover)

This is a very nice-looking book, with heavy-duty glossy paper sewn into an equally sturdy binding. Inside are high-quality illustrations of everything from scientists in frighteningly humungous wigs to the face of Jupiter as seen by Voyager, accompanied by readable, interesting text dealing with the English Scientific Revolution of the 16-1700s as seen through the lens of Newton's life. Its portrait of Newton is less negative than those in the recent biographies, but I wouldn't call it reverential--somewhere in the middle, I'd say.

The reading level is college or above, but this book would definitely be accessible to a smart kid of high school age. There's stuff about science, but also a lot of historical miscellanea that non-science types would find interesting. It doesn't go heavy on the math or technical stuff, but instead gives an overview of England at that time and the personalities and interactions of the scientists.

To sum up: it's not a cheap book, but it's a keeper and worth the money.