Advanced
Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for The Clockwork Universe by Edward Dolnick - Available

The Clockwork Universe

Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, & the Birth of the Modern World

by Edward Dolnick
ebook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Read a sample Read a sample
1 of 1 copy available
New York Times–bestselling Author: An "entertainingly written" account of the scientific revolution that emerged amid the horrors of seventeenth-century London (Kirkus Reviews).
In the late seventeenth century, chaos and disease reigned. Streets overflowed with filth and the murder rate was five times higher than it is today. 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 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.
"Dolnick's book is lively and the characters are vivid." —The New York Times Book Review
"A free-for-all of ideas in a character-rich, historical narrative." —The Wall Street Journal
"Dolnick writes clearly and unpretentiously about science, and writes equally well about the tumultuous historical context for these men's groundbreaking discoveries: the English Civil War, the Thirty Years' War, and in 1665 and 1666 respectively, the Black Plague and the Great Fire of London. Dolnick also offers penetrating portraits of the geniuses of the day, many of them idiosyncratic in the extreme, who offer fertile ground for entertaining writing." —Publishers Weekly

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 27, 2024

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780062042262

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780062042262
      • File size: 18660 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 29, 2010
      Bestselling author Dolnick (The Rescue Artist) focuses on the 17th century and the giants of early science—Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, and particularly Newton and Leibniz, whose independent invention of calculus made it possible to describe the moving, changing world and opened up a literal universe of possibilities. Dolnick writes clearly and unpretentiously about science, and writes equally well about the tumultuous historical context for these men's groundbreaking discoveries: the English Civil War, the Thirty Years' War, and in 1665 and 1666 respectively, the Black Plague and the Great Fire of London. Dolnick also offers penetrating portraits of the geniuses of the day, many of them idiosyncratic in the extreme, who offer fertile ground for entertaining writing. (Newton's feuds with Leibniz and Robert Hooke, another scientific titan of the day, are almost as famous as his discoveries.) While Dolnick uncovers nothing new, he has an eye for vivid details in aid of historical recreation, and an affection for his subjects, which all translate into a light but informative read coming suitably on the heels of the Royal Society's 350th anniversary. 8 pages of color photos.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading