Rating: 
Summary: Isaac Newton: The Science and the Man Behind the Science
Review: +++++
This easy to read, slim book, by writer, reporter, and essayist James Gleick, is about a giant in the scientific world: Sir Isaac Newton (Christmas 1642 to March 1727). However, this book does not only dwell on Newton's science (there are many books that deal exclusively with this) but also deals with the many unknown aspects of his life besides his science.
Gleick explains more eloquently: "He...led a strangely pure and obsessive life, lacking parents, lovers, and friends; quarreled bitterly with great men who crossed his life; veered at least once to the brink of madness; cloaked his work in secrecy; and yet discovered more of the essential core of human knowledge than before or after." In fact he discovered so much that one mathematician of the time asked, "Does he eat & drink & sleep? Is he like other men?"
To get an idea of the non-scientific topics covered in this book, I have copied some of the entries found under "Newton, Sir Issac" located in this book's index: apothecary skills of; appearance of; birth and childhood of; death of; early education of; fame of; family of; health of; knighting of; as member of Parliament; notebooks of; parents of; querulousness of; reclusiveness and secrecy of; sexuality and; theology of; wealth of.
For science buffs, included among other scientific highlights is a good non-mathematical account of Newton's "Principia Mathematica," surely the most influential book written in physics. There is also discussion of his other publication entitled "Opticks."
Included in this book are the actual writings of Newton and others of his time. For example, this is his first law of motion that he set down centuries ago:
"Every body perseveres in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight forward, except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by forces impressed."
Even poets admired Newton's genius. One poet wrote the following:
"Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night;
God said, 'Let Newton be!' And All was Light."
This book has fifteen illustrations (one in color). As well, those looking for more information can find it in this book's 350 endnotes and more than 300 references.
I was surprised that Gleick did not mention the International System unit in which we honor Newton. It is appropriately called the "Newton" (symbol: N) and is the force that provides a mass of one kilogram with an acceleration of one metre per second per second.
Finally, Newton's ideas permitted science for over 200 years until Albert Einstein came along, another giant of science. A book similar to this book describes Einstein's science as well as the man behind the science. It's called:
"Einstein's Cosmos" (2004) by Dr. Michio Kaku.
In conclusion, this is the story of the "Sage and Monarch of the Age of Reason," Isaac Newton (initials I.N.). To become a member of the IN club, you have to read this book!!
(first published 2003; brief book summary; 15 chapters; main narrative 190 pages; notes; acknowledgements and sources; index)
+++++
Rating: 
Summary: Engrossing, captivating, but ultimately unsatisfying
Review: The question of who possessed the greatest scientific mind in all of recorded history is an interesting one, but somewhat misstated. The real question is whose was the second greatest intellect, because no serious student of the history of science would ever pick anyone but Isaac Newton for the number one slot.
Einstein, Aristotle, Planck, Euclid'these were all certified geniuses whose insights into mathematics and the workings of the physical universe were almost unimaginably profound and astounding. But it's only a small exaggeration to say that what Newton conceived of, largely in solitude and with a dismaying paucity of publication, surpassed in sheer brilliance the total output of the next ten also-rans. Science itself can be divided into pre- and post-Newton eras, and he was in a quite literal sense the architect of how we perceive the universe, right to this very day. His laws of motion ("A body in motion tends to stay in motion unless'") are taught in modern classrooms using the same words in which he first formulated them. Calculus, the branch of mathematics he invented single-handedly as a tool for his research, is a cornerstone of modern math and physics and hasn't changed appreciably in three hundred years.
Mathematicians and physicists know all of this, so the challenge is that of conveying to the general reader something of why Newton was arguably one of the most important and influential human beings who ever lived. That seems to be the challenge to which James Gleick set himself in writing this book, and whether he succeeded is itself fodder for interesting debate. For my money, the answer depends on how you approach the book.
In the popular style kicked off by Dava Sobell's captivating bestseller, Longitude, Gleick's book is only 191 pages long (excluding notes) which, on the face of it, seems utterly absurd. Even to only list Newton's contributions would take more pages than that, so we're already alerted to the fact that there will be little scientific depth. Instead, Gleick's approach seems to be to give us only a flavor of what Newton accomplished and some insight into who he really was, and in this sense the book has merit.
Isaac Newton reads like an ode, a tone poem to the greatest thinker of all time. To readers who already have at least a passing familiarity with most of the concepts Newton gave us, the book is a beautifully written highlight reel, not unlike one of those network recaps of a multi-day sporting event that attempts to put into some kind of context all the detail you've already watched, and overlays the whole with unabashed adoration set to lush music. Even Gleick's prose is tuned to his sentiment, a faintly romantic and Victorian style of writing oddly in sync with his obvious reverence for his subject. One gets the impression that he was so thoroughly drawn into the tenor of Newton's times that it never occurred to him to define for us, or simply not use, such obscure terms as "bodkin."
If a twenty-volume set of the life and works of Newton were ever to be undertaken, Gleick's book could be its introduction. It is the ultimate appetite whetter, a breezy skim across the thinnest surface of an ocean of substance. The net result is an ache to know more, rather than the feeling of having learned something substantive, like being told how wonderful a work of art is rather than seeing it with your own eyes. The book is entirely too short, and the effort to limit the page count is apparent throughout. While the essential story of longitude was conveyable in a small book, Isaac Newton is not, and if this excessive brevity was to make him more palatable to the masses, it begs the question of whether "palatable" is at all compatible with "adequate." Alas, in this case it isn't, but the good news is that this book might prompt some readers to further investigation.
Rating:
Summary: Mechanization of the world picture
Review: A fascinating snapshot portrait of the great and beguiling Newton who stands in a paradoxical relationship to his progenies, successors, epigones. There are several much longer and more detailed bios, but this one is to the point with quick takes on the major episodes, from Newton's youth in the Shire, his entry to the Cambridge world, the great years of his discovery of the calculus, his professorship years and the publication of Principia, all ending in the escapade of the Royal Mint.
Still a creature in some medieval world, Newton seems to spawn his great science as an afterthought to his obcure alchemical investigations, and the stubborn quirkiness of his mind is endearing and seems to monkey's uncle his straight and true succession in the coming era of reductionist flatfooters.
The author muses that Newton liberated physics from philosophy, and worries this physics was _too_ succesful,with an aside on the arch opponent Blake. I think too many modern physicists suffer amnesia on the history here, and the dialectical convulsion that was more than resistance to the inevitable. The attempted course correction of Kant is forgotten, the Romantic movement excoriated, the attempted distinctions of geistewissenshaft and naturwissenschaft rereduced to the 'Two Cultures' diatribe....The list goes on in the history of reactions to the philosophic quagmire into which Newtonianism led general culture, even as the method itself goes on to many triumphs, in the realm of physics. In a word the legacy of Newton is a false view of man, Blake's nightmare come true, and it seems that his work produced a race of the smart idiots who can't see the limits of his method, a triumph of cultural stupidity, not the least was the bungled job of Darwinian theory which fails as it tries to ape the universal natural law, Newton's realm. The final legacy is the positivistic obsessions of the sociobiologists. Good read, and one can backtrack to the next episode, in the author's book on Chaos theory.
Rating:
Summary: bio of a genius
Review: An extremely well written bio of a genius who was essentially a child prodigy. The mathematics included in the book are very well presented so that a laymen as myself was able to grasp the content without too much trouble. Interesting as well, are the competitive drives between the other geniuses of his time who sought to either compliment or disprove newton's work.
Rating:
Summary: A GOOD BRIEF LIFE
Review: Before coming to this book I had always been aware of the reputation of Isaac Newton and knew without having too much knowledge of his theories that he was one of the greatest scientific thinkers of his or any time. When I finished this book I felt I had gained a good survey of his thought. Newton was what was known in the England of the time as a posthumous child, which meant that his father had died before his birth. He was born to a widowed mother at a time when widows did not have that many prospects except to remarry. With some land and money, his mother could afford to send Isaac to school, but he was called back to help farm the land which was his by right. He was a young man ill suited for such pursuits, sneaking off in the fields to read and think when he should have been watching sheep. Due to the intervention of his uncle, he goes to Trinity College and his fate begins. He would later become a professor at Cambridge and the president of the Royal Society and Warden of the English Mint. Not to mention some of the most original thinking of his time which would lead to the modern world. I really liked this book. It was very brief and to the point and was friendly to the non mathematican or physicist reader. In fact, I would think a scholar in those fields would be bored reading this book. This is more a populist work meant to give the bare bones of Newton's achievements in order to intice the normal reader to seek out the more difficult works on his own to find out more. I am horrible at math and physics and I still got a lot out of the hard science of the book. Even if it did get a little complicated, I could still understand. The only thing negative I could say was that there wasn't more book. It could have been a tad bit longer. The last 70 pages or so are taken up with Gleicks lost of the works he cited. I didn't really get the full impact of Newton's theories because there wasn't room for Gleick to talk about them a lot. I would have liked more information on Newton's life also. His friendships seemed very sketchy and could have been more interesting because he was always fighting others in the scientific community. Newton seemed to be one of those few people who don't need a lot of social interaction. In fact he comes off very awkward in his relationships. It is proposed that he was chaste his entire life and if so, because his entire life was devoted to something higher than mere reproduction. He wanted to be God's interpretor, and in some repects, he succeeded. If you have an interest in Newton I would recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Man, Brilliant Book
Review: Being an absolute incompetent in the fields of math and science, I approached studying Isaac Newton with a bit of trepidation. The worlds that Newton opened to his fellow man are, on the surface, unapproachable by the layman. Still, his genius speaks to us through a strain of fanatic brilliance that crosses any line of limited knowledge. The guy was smart, smart beyond your wildest dreams, and that kind of otherworldly brilliance creates fascination easily. There is a chapter that I liked where a query was made by his contemporaries concerning Newton's impressive intellect, is he one of us? That's how Newton was seen, as someone who had a science book in his hands from 200 years in the future, a natural mind that saw the intricacies that everyone else was missing. That was my impression, but when reading Mr. Gleick's excellent short biography on Sir Isaac Newton, you find that he worked obsessively hard to develop his ideas and his own genius. Newton wasn't a genius or savant, he was a man absolutely dedicated to knowledge, and that kind of man makes for an intriguing book.
The world Newton was born into was still steeped in the mystic darkness of the past. Science, as in actual scientific debate and discussion, was just beginning to emerge from the more occult arts. Serious men, with formidable schooling, were realizing that the natural world was not influenced merely by forces as defined by the earlier Greek philosophers. Movement and the nature of matter were hot discussions, with all kinds of men adding their input to a debate that still lay out of reach for most people. Newton was born into a servant class background, an origin that did not promise much in the way of intellectual development. Fortunately, for him and all of mankind, his mothers employer was generous to young Isaac, who showed an early inclination to books and learning. This dalliance became a full out obsession, as Newton threw himself absolutely into the quickly developing world of physics. This is why we should admire Newton, in my opinion. His fervent dedication, his almost fanatical pursuit of new knowledge, simply put me in awe. He was a normal man, but transformed himself into a fountain of knowledge the likes of which the world has ever seen.
The strange scholar would often lock himself into his quarters for days on end, pounding away at the complex mysteries that still confounded his fellow scholars. He would write and experiment, repeat, write and experiment, day after day in a crusade to understand the simplest things around him. Why did things move as they did, why did matter come to rest, what force brought things to the ground? We view these forces as fundamental now, but we enjoy such simplicity only because of men like Newton. Newton's relationship with his contemporaries went through phases of rivalry and cooperation, but he was always a man on his own, tinkering away at every idea known to man. He delved into religion and alchemy, subjects we view as outside the scientific realm. Newton looked into the heavens, trying to determine the natures of orbits and the attraction of various planets and the sun. He was willing to go to any length, even experimenting on his own optic ability. The whole range of his intellectual curiosity is stunning. Of course, when he was limited by the mathematical reasoning of the day, Newton, as he often did, rose above environmental limitations and developed an entire new way of reasoning. The formation of calculus allowed intellectuals to examine physical phenomenon with a degree of specificity unimaginable by earlier scholars. He was beyond other men because of his love of words and knowledge, and we are all the beneficiaries of his amazing life.
One of the benefits of this book is its accessibility. While it is by no means elementary, anyone with a limited knowledge of science and mathematics should have no problem following along. However, you may have to go over things once or twice, just to fully grasp the meaning of Newton's genius. Gleick, while keeping up an enthralling narrative, also takes time to fully explain the numerical background behind some of Newton's greatest discoveries. It is a great little biography about one of the all time giants of history.
Rating: 
Summary: Isaac Newton Lite
Review: Despite its title, this slim volume is no biography. While interestng and well-written, it is really an extended profile, with nearly a third of the book consisting of notes and acknowledgements (in a format no magazine would likely publish). At its listed price, it is no value.
Rating:
Summary: The Workings of Genius
Review: Everyone has heard the story of how Isaac Newton, sitting in his garden one day, saw an apple fall from a tree. It was a "Eureka Moment." He was thereupon inspired to create the new science of motion, discover gravity, form the main laws of physics, and invent calculus. It is supposed to illustrate how geniuses get their flashes of inspiration, simply thinking deeply on what all the rest of us pass by. The main flaw in the story, according to _Isaac Newton_ (Pantheon) by James Gleick, is that it probably never happened. Newton himself, only many years later, told people that he had been inspired by an apple in his garden; he never wrote about it. It was not necessarily a falling apple, and it certainly wasn't a falling apple that beaned him on the head, as one variant of the story goes. (Perhaps we like to imagine our betters running into problems like malevolently falling apples.) More importantly, as Gleick points out, "Newton did not need an apple to remind him that objects fell to Earth." Galileo had seen it and done tests on dropped objects. If Newton got any sort of inspiration from an apple incident, it was only because he had thought about gravity carefully for years before. It was as if Newton "... had an extra sense organ for peering into the frame or skeleton or wheels hidden beneath the surface of things," Gleick writes. Newton worked in isolation, and was reluctant to discuss his results. This was to haunt him in the famously bitter quarrel over whether he or Leibniz had invented calculus. He never married, and though he may have castigated himself for sexual ideas, he did not put them into practice. He was devoted to alchemy, with all it's legends and lore. Newton is often held up by fundamentalist Christians as being the kind of scientist that we could have had before Darwinism took over, but this reflects an ignorance of Newton's views. Newton fulminated against the Trinity, convinced that it was a false god sinfully imposed by popes and monks. He was irascible, argumentative, friendless, and uncommunicative. He was also incomparably brilliant, and can be called truly the chief architect of the modern world. When _Principia_ was published, it was thought by many to be impenetrable. Others thought it was a step backward to some sort of demon. Scientific thinking had quelled some of the importance people attributed to invisible spirits, but Newton invoked an invisible force called gravity, a force which ruled the apple, the Moon, and the Earth, and which caused the tides. Newton could only maintain that it was not occult. The essence of gravity was not something that he or anyone else understood, but it was demonstrated by mathematics. "It is enough," he wrote, "that gravity really exists and acts according to the laws that we have set forth and is sufficient to explain all the motions of the heavenly bodies and of our sea." For Newton, the numbers mattered, and Gleick's biography, concentrating as it does on the progression of Newton's thought, is an excellent introduction to the dramatic difference Newton made. Gleick cannot explain Newton's genius; no one can sufficiently do that. His brisk and well-researched biography, though, does much to help us appreciate it.
Rating:
Summary: The World Was Never The Same
Review: Few would deny that Sir Issac Newton was a singularly important man in the history of both science and mathematics. His two best-known accomplishments, the invention of the calculus and a theory of gravity which accurately predicted the motions of the planets, have done much to shape the world in which we now live. Despite the incredible advances made by others in the ensuing centuries, the world view of the average educated person is still best described as "Newtonion." I believe we must go as far back as the golden age of the ancient Greeks to find a revolution in world view that is possibly comparable to that created by Newton. Gleick's short biography is a superb introduction to the man and his times. It is not overly technical and the lay reader should not worry about much going over his/her head. Gleick has done again what he seems to do best: he has taken a difficult subject and made it accessible to a wide audience. He did that in his books about chaos theory and the life of physicist Richard Feynman, and he has done it again with this biography of Isaac Newton. The author emphasizes Newton's human side, which is bizarre enough to satisfy even the most jaded reader. Newton was not a social man, frequently quarreled with other scientists, was reticent about publicizing his discoveries, and more than dabbled in alchemy. He lived as if possessed by some personal demon who denied him the ordinary comforts and pleasures of life. I disagree with an earlier review that complained about the brevity of this book. I found it to be just about right, and well-written. There are ample references for those who wish to learn more about Isaac Newton. On the other hand, if you simply feel that you should know the essentials about the life of the man who shaped our modern view of the world, this book should serve that need well.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Scientific Genius
Review: First off, let me say that I am a great admirer of Isaac Newton. Einstein is who he is and deserves every accolade put upon him but, in my opinion, humankind has never produced a scientific genius as great as Newton. He understood the world in a way that has never been equaled before or since. That being said, let me also say that this is a very good biography of Newton. It is brief so it is easily digestible by anyone. Still, what is lacks in depth it makes up for in coverage. We get glimpses of many parts of Newton's life, from his obsessive questioning and scientific investigation of the plague/fire years through his hiding-in-plain-sight years at Trinity through the renown of his London years as President of the Royal Society and Warden of the Mint. Gleick also does not shy away from the less understandable parts of Newton's nature--his hypersensitivity to criticism, his theological struggles and his relentless alchemical investigations. Though, as this biography makes clear, even his ability to achieve his well-known and -respected triumphs in mathematics and physics really defy understanding. Let's face it, there is something about genius that is beyond any kind of clarity for those of us not touched by it. Anyone interested in a quick look at an amazing man should read this book. I would also suggest taking the time to follow the many endnotes that Gleick has provided. Unlike many notes of this type, these are very readable and add to the text, though some probably could have been added right to the body of the text without much interruption of the flow. In any case, Gleick has written a fine book about a true genius.
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