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lpm100's review against another edition
5.0
Many marvelous things, all at once.
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2019
I'm not exactly sure what this book is. David Berlinski's prose is so beautiful that his writing is a happening in and of itself.
There are million dollar words *everywhere.* (Lapidary. Carapace. Detritus. Priapic. Alembic. Subsizar. Diapason. Peccadilloes. Amanuensis. Objurgation. Oblate. Rebarbative. Pupate. Filigree. Scholium. Gravamen.)
There are powerful sentences and turns of phrase that can augment anyone's lexical powers.
("He could have as well asked the sea to shed its salt."/"We have no way of knowing what took place between the two men and so must forever alternate between assigning to Newton and de Duillier an intimacy that they did not exhibit or innocence that they did not enjoy."/" The embroilment to which he refers was plainly sexual and just as plainly imaginary."/" He had reached the age in which even very great men are capable of appreciating beauty without wishing to posses it.")
Cerebral prose is one part of the book, for certain.
Another part of the book is a pithy biography of Isaac Newton.
In any case, Newton was of these types of men who create so much but leave very little personal imprint behind.
Characterizations of such people are all speculation and Berlinski obliges us by not indulging in that at too much length.
Another part of this book is some basic Physics about the things that Newton characterized. People who have taken a couple of semesters of undergraduate Physics or Calculus should be able to understand most of this. Indeed, they may even already know most of this.
I think that the fourth conceivable description of the book is: a discussion of the Philosophy of Science as seen through the one man in particular.
For example, Berlinski notes that before Isaac Newton's building beautiful experiments, theory was most important--with a secondary emphasis on explaining actual experimental results.
What made Newton so great--and what we even knew before reading this book-- is that he invented the Calculus to explain things that *actually existed*. (When he wanted to observe and explain natural phenomenon and he ran out of mathematical tools, he made his own.)
Newton was also a first class engineer, and he made contributions in other fields, such as Optics.
Any one of these things could not stand alone, but if you put all four of them together then you have the makings of a decent book.
Berlinski's treatment of Isaac Newton is more sympathetic than, say, Stephen Hawking. (I remember the first sentence of his biography sketch of Isaac Newton. "Isaac Newton was not a pleasant man.")
Of Newton, the man:
Newton was the anti-Einstein in terms of his bearing. (Albert Einstein was somebody who had an absolutely massive personality, and that was what sustained him later in his career .)
He was very similar, however, in the sense that all of his best mathematical and theoretical work was done in a very short period in his early life (1684-1686). Einstein did almost all of his best work in one single year in his twenties.
Even though Berlinski's treatment of The Subject is more generous then what I have known up until now, there is no denying that he was a petty, mean-spirited, vindictive person in defense of ideas in which he had an eagle steak. An academic, in short. (p.144)
Later, he was to reveal a superb practical sense as a Man of Action (as evidenced by is administration of the English Mint).
It has also been written that a lot of the work that Newton did was in service of his proving that there is a G-d.
The truth is not quite so simple.
Newton held to the doctrine of Arianism (which I just learned in reading this book, and which may have been its best didactic purpose).
And an Arian of that time (spelled with an "i" and not a "y") was probably the equivalent of Sam Harris or Richard Dawkins to us in these times.
Of Newton, the scientist:
Something that is underappreciated and that the writer brings forth for us is that Newton was actually a first-rate experimentalist AND engineer-- and that he became a theoretician insofar as it was necessary to support / explain his experimental data.
It appears that he also had broad interests: He studied Alchemy as well as Theology.
Verdict: Recommended at the used OR new price
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2019
I'm not exactly sure what this book is. David Berlinski's prose is so beautiful that his writing is a happening in and of itself.
There are million dollar words *everywhere.* (Lapidary. Carapace. Detritus. Priapic. Alembic. Subsizar. Diapason. Peccadilloes. Amanuensis. Objurgation. Oblate. Rebarbative. Pupate. Filigree. Scholium. Gravamen.)
There are powerful sentences and turns of phrase that can augment anyone's lexical powers.
("He could have as well asked the sea to shed its salt."/"We have no way of knowing what took place between the two men and so must forever alternate between assigning to Newton and de Duillier an intimacy that they did not exhibit or innocence that they did not enjoy."/" The embroilment to which he refers was plainly sexual and just as plainly imaginary."/" He had reached the age in which even very great men are capable of appreciating beauty without wishing to posses it.")
Cerebral prose is one part of the book, for certain.
Another part of the book is a pithy biography of Isaac Newton.
In any case, Newton was of these types of men who create so much but leave very little personal imprint behind.
Characterizations of such people are all speculation and Berlinski obliges us by not indulging in that at too much length.
Another part of this book is some basic Physics about the things that Newton characterized. People who have taken a couple of semesters of undergraduate Physics or Calculus should be able to understand most of this. Indeed, they may even already know most of this.
I think that the fourth conceivable description of the book is: a discussion of the Philosophy of Science as seen through the one man in particular.
For example, Berlinski notes that before Isaac Newton's building beautiful experiments, theory was most important--with a secondary emphasis on explaining actual experimental results.
What made Newton so great--and what we even knew before reading this book-- is that he invented the Calculus to explain things that *actually existed*. (When he wanted to observe and explain natural phenomenon and he ran out of mathematical tools, he made his own.)
Newton was also a first class engineer, and he made contributions in other fields, such as Optics.
Any one of these things could not stand alone, but if you put all four of them together then you have the makings of a decent book.
Berlinski's treatment of Isaac Newton is more sympathetic than, say, Stephen Hawking. (I remember the first sentence of his biography sketch of Isaac Newton. "Isaac Newton was not a pleasant man.")
Of Newton, the man:
Newton was the anti-Einstein in terms of his bearing. (Albert Einstein was somebody who had an absolutely massive personality, and that was what sustained him later in his career .)
He was very similar, however, in the sense that all of his best mathematical and theoretical work was done in a very short period in his early life (1684-1686). Einstein did almost all of his best work in one single year in his twenties.
Even though Berlinski's treatment of The Subject is more generous then what I have known up until now, there is no denying that he was a petty, mean-spirited, vindictive person in defense of ideas in which he had an eagle steak. An academic, in short. (p.144)
Later, he was to reveal a superb practical sense as a Man of Action (as evidenced by is administration of the English Mint).
It has also been written that a lot of the work that Newton did was in service of his proving that there is a G-d.
The truth is not quite so simple.
Newton held to the doctrine of Arianism (which I just learned in reading this book, and which may have been its best didactic purpose).
And an Arian of that time (spelled with an "i" and not a "y") was probably the equivalent of Sam Harris or Richard Dawkins to us in these times.
Of Newton, the scientist:
Something that is underappreciated and that the writer brings forth for us is that Newton was actually a first-rate experimentalist AND engineer-- and that he became a theoretician insofar as it was necessary to support / explain his experimental data.
It appears that he also had broad interests: He studied Alchemy as well as Theology.
Verdict: Recommended at the used OR new price
cancermoononhigh's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
2.5
First book by this author and on this person. I liked his style; this book did seem very elementary but a good introduction.
*Isaac Newton was born after his father died; he was born the year that Galileo died.
*Newton's mother Hannah would leave her son at a young age to live with her parents while she re-married to Reverend Barnabas Smith, delivering a deep blow to him.
*He entered into Trinity College at Cambridge University in the Summer of 1661. His day-to-day life was disorderly; sleeping when overpowered, reading without pause, often too distracted to eat. The University closed its doors during an epidemic, Newton retired to the countryside at Woolsthorpe, 4 years of education and a bachelor's degree in the arts. He alone advanced beyond other European mathematicians, making himself first their match than their master.
*Newton's career at Cambridge would last 27 years. He was one of the least sociable of men, but he ascended the academic ladder with ease. He would spend years studying alchemy and theological research. Newton would write more than a million words on alchemical subjects, conducting endless experiments in his laboratory, mixing potions by hand, poisoning himself with traces of mercury.
*Isaac was a man of deep religious sensibilities. He taught himself Hebrew, read the bible from original sources. He accepted nothing he could not verify by means of a primary source. He would come to reject Christian orthodoxy in favor of Arianism.
*With these seven words "extended to the orb of the moon" Newton initiated modern mathematical physics. His discovery that gravity could be extended to the orb of the moon was as end as well as a beginning. Newton destroyed the prospects for a genuinely mechanical philosophy of nature.
*His full immersion into the English intellectual life came in 1670 when he designed and made a small but powerful reflecting telescope.
*Newton had advanced a novel theory about the nature of light, arguing that it was an essence a stream of particles moving in a straight line through space.
*As a young man he was quite accomplished, he conceived three revolutionary ideas, the first in mathematics (calculus), the second in natural philosophy (gravity) and the third in optics (the particle of light theory).
*His book the Principia was published in 1687 and is one of the greatest books on pure thought; it is now one of humanity greatest treasures. It constitutes a crucial demonstration of the power of certain mathematical methods in nature philosophy. It was closely read by mathematicians and physicists and within a short time by philosophers and men of letter as well.
*Newton was promoted to Parliament. There is no record of his time during parliament, except for a window to be closed.
*Rumor is that he may have had a relationship with Swiss mathematician Fatio de Duillier. He was young, smart and not a threat to Newton. The men grew close and mutually dependent, suggesting moving closer to one another. It had no physical realm to it and it did not last long.
*Isaac Newton was born after his father died; he was born the year that Galileo died.
*Newton's mother Hannah would leave her son at a young age to live with her parents while she re-married to Reverend Barnabas Smith, delivering a deep blow to him.
*He entered into Trinity College at Cambridge University in the Summer of 1661. His day-to-day life was disorderly; sleeping when overpowered, reading without pause, often too distracted to eat. The University closed its doors during an epidemic, Newton retired to the countryside at Woolsthorpe, 4 years of education and a bachelor's degree in the arts. He alone advanced beyond other European mathematicians, making himself first their match than their master.
*Newton's career at Cambridge would last 27 years. He was one of the least sociable of men, but he ascended the academic ladder with ease. He would spend years studying alchemy and theological research. Newton would write more than a million words on alchemical subjects, conducting endless experiments in his laboratory, mixing potions by hand, poisoning himself with traces of mercury.
*Isaac was a man of deep religious sensibilities. He taught himself Hebrew, read the bible from original sources. He accepted nothing he could not verify by means of a primary source. He would come to reject Christian orthodoxy in favor of Arianism.
*With these seven words "extended to the orb of the moon" Newton initiated modern mathematical physics. His discovery that gravity could be extended to the orb of the moon was as end as well as a beginning. Newton destroyed the prospects for a genuinely mechanical philosophy of nature.
*His full immersion into the English intellectual life came in 1670 when he designed and made a small but powerful reflecting telescope.
*Newton had advanced a novel theory about the nature of light, arguing that it was an essence a stream of particles moving in a straight line through space.
*As a young man he was quite accomplished, he conceived three revolutionary ideas, the first in mathematics (calculus), the second in natural philosophy (gravity) and the third in optics (the particle of light theory).
*His book the Principia was published in 1687 and is one of the greatest books on pure thought; it is now one of humanity greatest treasures. It constitutes a crucial demonstration of the power of certain mathematical methods in nature philosophy. It was closely read by mathematicians and physicists and within a short time by philosophers and men of letter as well.
*Newton was promoted to Parliament. There is no record of his time during parliament, except for a window to be closed.
*Rumor is that he may have had a relationship with Swiss mathematician Fatio de Duillier. He was young, smart and not a threat to Newton. The men grew close and mutually dependent, suggesting moving closer to one another. It had no physical realm to it and it did not last long.
holtfan's review against another edition
3.0
A facinating and often fun glimpse into the life of Issac newton. Some of his concepts and more understandable gifts to physics are explained. Overall quite interesting
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