The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World - Softcover

Dolnick, Edward

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0061719528 ISBN 13: 9780061719523

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2012

Synopsis

From New York Times bestselling author Edward Dolnick, the true story of a pivotal moment in modern history when a group of strange, tormented geniuses--Isaac Newton chief among them--invented science and remade our understanding of the world.

At a time when the world was falling apart-- in an age of religious wars, plague, and the Great Fire of London--a group of men looked around them and saw a world of perfect order. Chaotic as it looked, these earliest scientists declared, the universe was in fact an intricate and perfectly regulated clockwork. This was the tail-end of Shakespeare's century, and these were brilliant, ambitious, confused, conflicted men. They believed in angels and alchemy and the devil, and they believed that the universe followed precise, mathematical laws. This is the story of the bewildered geniuses who made the modern world.

About this title

Review:

"Dolnick's book is lively and the characters are vivid."--New York Times Book Review

"An engrossing read."--Library Journal

"[Dolnick] offers penetrating portraits of the geniuses of the day . . . who offer fertile ground for entertaining writing. [He] has an eye for vivid details in aid of historical recreation, and an affection for his subjects . . . [An] informative read."--Publishers Weekly

"A character-rich, historical narrative."--Wall Street Journal

"Edward Dolnick's smoothly written history of the scientific revolution tells the stories of the key players and events that transformed society."--Charlotte Observer

"A lively account of early science. . . . Colorful, entertainingly written and nicely paced."--Kirkus Reviews

From the Back Cover:

In a world of chaos and disease, one group of driven, idiosyncratic geniuses envisioned a universe that ran like clockwork. They were the Royal Society, the men who made the modern world.

At the end of the seventeenth century, sickness was divine punishment, astronomy and astrology were indistinguishable, and the world's most brilliant, ambitious, and curious scientists were tormented by contradiction. They believed in angels, devils, and alchemy yet also believed that the universe followed precise mathematical laws that were as intricate and perfectly regulated as the mechanisms of a great clock.

The Clockwork Universe captures these monolithic thinkers as they wrestled with nature's most sweeping mysteries. Award-winning writer Edward Dolnick illuminates the fascinating personalities of Newton, Leibniz, Kepler, and others, and vividly animates their momentous struggle during an era when little was known and everything was new--battles of will, faith, and intellect that would change the course of history itself.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0061719528
• ISBN 13: 9780061719523
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400