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richardwells's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this! Sir Isaac was a real piece of work, and his character is at least as fascinating as his discoveries. And, best part, no equations! Science without the numbers. Perfect for a math-phobe like me.
boureemusique's review against another edition
4.0
White has biographied several influential men of science. He looks at a lot of primary material and writes extensively about multiple facets of his subjects' lives. However, as somebody who has read a lot of academic writing lately, I feel that some of White's claims about Newton's character and motivations are unfounded or at least not properly documented. They're really neat and plausible ideas, but they're more disputable than White seems to allow. Oh well.
Excerpt for my own notes: "According to the Roman histsorian Justin, Pythagoras believed that:
God is one. And he is not, as some think, outside the world, but in it, for he is entirely in the whole circle looking over all generations. He is the blending agent of all ages, the executor of his own power and deeds; the first of all things, the light in heaven; the Father of all; the mind and animating force of the universe; the motivating factor of all the heavenly bodies."
quoted from Justin Martyr, "Exhortation to the Greeks', as quoted in S.K. Heninger Jr, /Touches of Sweet Harmony: Pythagorean Cosmology and Renaissance Poetics/ (San Marino, Cal.: The Huntingdon Library, 1974), p. 202
And then Newton's religious ideas: "God does not himself control directly the gravitational forces that keep the planets in motion, nor does he provide directly the medium via which universal gravitation operates. Instead, teh incorporeal ether which facilitates the phenomenon of gravitation (and perhaps other forces) is actually the body or spiritual form of Jesus Christ" (351). Here Newton sees Jesus as "the agent by whom God created all things in this world," or, a la the Gospel of John and mystics like Eckhart, the Divine Logos, or Word.
Excerpt for my own notes: "According to the Roman histsorian Justin, Pythagoras believed that:
God is one. And he is not, as some think, outside the world, but in it, for he is entirely in the whole circle looking over all generations. He is the blending agent of all ages, the executor of his own power and deeds; the first of all things, the light in heaven; the Father of all; the mind and animating force of the universe; the motivating factor of all the heavenly bodies."
quoted from Justin Martyr, "Exhortation to the Greeks', as quoted in S.K. Heninger Jr, /Touches of Sweet Harmony: Pythagorean Cosmology and Renaissance Poetics/ (San Marino, Cal.: The Huntingdon Library, 1974), p. 202
And then Newton's religious ideas: "God does not himself control directly the gravitational forces that keep the planets in motion, nor does he provide directly the medium via which universal gravitation operates. Instead, teh incorporeal ether which facilitates the phenomenon of gravitation (and perhaps other forces) is actually the body or spiritual form of Jesus Christ" (351). Here Newton sees Jesus as "the agent by whom God created all things in this world," or, a la the Gospel of John and mystics like Eckhart, the Divine Logos, or Word.
richardwells's review
5.0
I loved this! Sir Isaac was a real piece of work, and his character is at least as fascinating as his discoveries. And, best part, no equations! Science without the numbers. Perfect for a math-phobe like me.
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