As a schoolbook figure, Isaac Newton is most often pictured sitting under an apple tree, about to discover the secrets of gravity. In this short biography, James Gleick reveals the life of a man whose contributions to science and math included far more than the laws of motion for which he is generally famous. Gleick's always-accessible style is hampered somewhat by the need to describe Newton's esoteric thinking processes. After all, the man invented calculus. But readers who stick with the book will discover the amazing story of a scientist obsessively determined to find out how things worked. Working alone, thinking alone, and experimenting alone, Newton often resorted to strange methods, as when he risked his sight to find out how the eye processed images:

.... Newton, experimental philosopher, slid a bodkin into his eye socket between eyeball and bone. He pressed with the tip until he saw 'severall white darke & coloured circles'.... Almost as recklessly, he stared with one eye at the sun, reflected in a looking glass, for as long as he could bear.

From poor beginnings, Newton rose to prominence and wealth, and Gleick uses contemporary accounts and notebooks to track the genius's arc, much as Newton tracked the paths of comets. Without a single padded sentence or useless fact, Gleick portrays a complicated man whose inspirations required no falling apples. --Therese Littleton

From Publishers Weekly
Gleick's most renowned writing falls into one of two categories: vivid character studies or broad syntheses of scientific trends. Here, he fuses the two genres with a biography of the man who was emblematic of a new scientific paradigm, but this short study falls a bit short on both counts. The author aims to "ground this book as wholly as possible in its time; in the texts," and his narrative relies heavily on direct quotations from Newton's papers, extensively documented with more than 60 pages of notes. While his attention to historical detail is impressive, Gleick's narrative aims somewhere between academic and popular history, and his take on Newton feels a bit at arms-length, only matching the vibrancy of his Feynman biography at moments (particularly when describing Newton's disputes with such competitors as Robert Hooke or Leibniz). As might be expected, Gleick's descriptions of Newton's scientific breakthroughs are clear and engaging, and his book is strongest when discussing the shift to a mathematical view of the world that Newton championed. In the end, this is a perfectly serviceable overview of Newton's life and work, and will bring this chapter in the history of science to a broader audience, but it lacks the depth one hopes for from a writer of Gleick's abilities.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
It's hard to conceive of a time when we did not perceive the world in terms of Newton's laws. This is the picture of a much less enlightened time, when Newton himself dabbled in alchemy and magic. Gleick's fascinating biography looks at history and a man born in the year Galileo died, who did some of his most important thinking while those around him died of the Plague. Far from our iconic picture of the carefree boy under the apple tree, Newton was irascible, vindictive, and egotistical. As interesting as the picture Gleick paints is, the book is difficult for the layperson. Incomprehensible math theory is hard to grasp unless one already has grounding in the subject. Nonetheless, Allan Corduner's narration is a pleasure to listen to. One can easily imagine his deeply satisfying voice, rich with accents and tones, coming directly from the halls of academia. D.G. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Popular sci-tech author Gleick takes as his subject one of the most written-about figures in the history of science--so what's the new angle here? A crystalline expositor of what Newton accomplished, Gleick throttles back the personal aspects of Newton's life to show the curves of his thought processes. Although Newton's reputation dimmed in the early twentieth century when his papers revealed devotion to alchemy and biblical hermeneutics--what a waste of genius, ran the theme of subsequent biographies--Gleick incorporates them with the physics and mathematics, as aspects of Newton's singular obsession with truth . . and secrecy. He suppressed for decades his invention of calculus; laws of motion; and optics; and harbored vitriolic hatred for those who disputed him, such as calculus co-inventor Gottfried Leibniz. Newton's choleric moods and blazing ideation, Gleick ventures to explain, can be understood in the context of Restoration England's intellectual climate, still heavily mystical and only incipiently rational. Weaving this background into his fine presentation of Newton's interests, Gleick renders a wonderful impression of the icon's mind. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From Book News, Inc.
Gleick, interpreter of science for the (serious) lay reader in such books as Chaos: Making a New Science, here turns his attention to the pioneering physicist. This narrative traces the emergence of Newton's vision and the fundamental impact his work has had on human consciousness.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Review
"The biography of choice. . . . Newton the man emerges from the shadows."--The New York Times Book Review

“Succinct, elegant. . . . A sharp, beautifully written introduction to the man." --The Wall Street Journal

“A masterpiece of brevity and concentration. Isaac Newton sees its angular subject in the round, presenting him as scientist and magician, believer and heretic, monster and man. . . . It will surely stand as the definitive study for a very long time to come. Fortunate Newton!” --John Banville, The Guardian

“Gleick [is] a clever tour guide to the minds of great geniuses. . . . Isaac Newton sheds new light on the difficult personality of a deeply enigmatic figure.” “Elegant, jewel-like…he does not waste a word… Gleick has given us the man and his mind in their full crazyness.” --The New York Times

“A compelling page-turner. . . . Gleick [is] a clever tour guide to the minds of great geniuses. Isaac Newton sheds new light on the difficult personality of a deeply enigmatic figure.”
“Beautifully flesh[es] out the alchemical dialectic, its balancing act between the spiritual and the gross.” —The Boston Globe

“An elegantly written, insightful work that brings Newton to life and does him justice. . . . Gleick proves to be not only a sound explicator of Newton's science but also a capable literary stylist, whose understated empathy with his subject lets us almost see through Newton's eyes.” —Los Angeles Times

“The biography of choice for the interested layman. . . . [Gleick] makes this multifaceted life remarkably accessible.”

“For the casual reader with a serious interest in Newton’s life and work, I recommend Gleick’s biography as an excellent place to start. It has three important virtues. It is accurate, it is readable, and it is short…. Gleick has gone back to the original notebooks and brought [Newton] to life.” —Freeman Dyson, The New York Review of Books

“The best short life of science’s most perplexing figure.” —New Scientist

“Written with enormous enthusiasm and verve and in a style that is often closer to poetry than prose. [Gleick] explains the fundamentals with clarity and grace. His ease with the science is the key to the book’s delight.” —The Economist

“[Gleick is] one of the best science writers of our time. . . . He has exhumed from mountains of historical documents and letters a compelling portrait of a man who held the cards of his genius and near madness close to his chest. Gleick’s book [is] hard to put down.” —Toronto Globe and Mail

“Brilliant. . . . The great scientist is brought into sharp focus and made more accessible. Highly recommended.” —The Tucson Citizen

“Marvellously rich, elegant and poetic. . . . [Gleick’s] great talent is the ability to unravel complex ideas without talking down. Books on Newton abound, but Gleick’s fresh, intimate and beautifully composed account succeeds where many fail, in eloquently dramatizing the strange power of his subject’s vision.” --The Times (London)

“Gleick . . . has transformed mainstream academic research into an exciting story. Gleick has done a marvelous job of recreating intellectual life in Britain around the end of the 17th century. He excels at translating esoteric discussions into clear, simple explanations that make sense to modern people.” —Science

“James Gleick . . . makes the most of his extraordinary material, providing us with a deftly crafted vision of the great mathematician as a creator, and victim, of his age. . . . [Isaac Newton] is a perfect antidote to the many vast, bloated scientific biographies that currently flood the market--and also acts a superb starting point for anyone interested in the life of one of the world's few, undisputed geniuses.” --The Observer

“Gleick . . . brings to bear on Newton’s life and thought the same clarity of understanding and expression that brought order to chaos in his first volume [Chaos: Making a New Science].” —The Daily Herald

“Moving . . . [Gleick’s] biography is perhaps the most accessible to date. He is an elegant writer, brisk without being shallow, excellent on the essence of the work, and revealing in his account of Newton’s dealings with the times.” —Financial Times

“You can’t get much more entertaining than Isaac Newton–as described by James Gleick, that is.” —The San Diego Union-Tribune

“Huge in scope and profound in depth. . . . The extent of Newton’s genius is revealed in breathtaking detail. . . . A remarkable and challenging work and does full justice to its subject.” --Yorkshire Evening Post

Review
"Can a talented but non-specialist science writer have any hope of contributing a serious, insightful biography of such a monumental man? In this case Gleick wins the gamble. His Isaac Newton is now the biography of choice for the interested layman?. The extraordinary breadth of Newton's interests is brilliantly delineated by Gleick. Newton the man emerges from the shadows."
--Owen Gingerich, The New York Times Book Review

"Accurate and readable? Gleick has gone back to [Newton's] original notebooks and brought them to life. For casual reader with a serious interest in Newton's life and work, I recommend Gleick's biography as an excellent place to start."
--Freeman Dyson, The New York Review of Books

"A slender, thoroughly researched account of Newton's life, written in a spare sometimes lyrical prose style? What's most fascinating about [Newton], and what makes Gleick's biography so intriguing, is that Newton just sort of came up with things by himself, as if out of the blue?And incredibly, he got the right answers."
--Farhad Manjoo, Salon.com

"What a great subject for James Gleick! Isaac Newton was a geniuses? genius. His secret jottings changed the way we think about the universe, from the infinite to the infinitesimal. He was larger than life in his search for order, and he had heroic adventures in the realms of mystery and chaos. His behavior on this earth was as eccentric as his voyages beyond it were spectacular. Gleick has written the perfect short life."-- Jonathan Weiner, author of The Beak of a Finch

?The book has the magic of a wonderful laboratory experiment. James Gleick uses some complex components to make a brilliantly orchestrated and compelling narrative. His Isaac Newton is a masterpiece of clarity ? so difficult to write, so easy to read.?
--Michael Holroyd, author of Works on Paper

"In addition to reflecting on Newton's genius, Gleick provides a fresh and brilliant portrait of his personality and life, the people who mattered to him, the influences which played on him, and the contexts of his achievements, giving us a vivid picture of this superhuman yet all-too-mortal man."
--Oliver Sacks, author of Uncle Tungsten

?[ISAAC NEWTON] is beautifully paced and very stylishly written: compact, atmospheric, elegant. It offers a brilliant and engaging study in the paradoxes of the scientific imagination. It?s more revealing than a falling apple!?
-- Richard Holmes, author of Coleridge

?After reading Jim Gleick?s beautifully written and intimate portrait of Newton, I felt as if I?d spent an evening by the fire with that complex and troubled genius.?
--Alan Lightman, author of Einstein's Dreams, The Diagnosis and Reunion

"Gleick's descriptions of Newton's scientific breakthroughs are clear and engaging? [ISAAC NEWTON] will bring this chapter in the history of science to a broader audience."
--Publishers Weekly

"[An] engaging, concise biography of a monumental visionary and eccentric whose life was as remarkable as the universe he struggled to understand."
--Kirkus Reviews






From the Hardcover edition.

ANNOTATION

Finalist for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In this biography, James Gleick moves between a comprehensive historical portrait and a dramatic focus on Newton's significant letters and unpublished notebooks to illuminate the real importance of his work in physics, in optics, and in calculus. He makes us see the old intuitive, alchemical universe out of which Newton's mathematics first arose and shows us how Newton's ideas have altered all forms of understanding from history to philosophy. And he gives us an account of the conflicting impulses that pulled at this man's heart: his quiet longings, his rage, his secrecy, the extraordinary subtleties of personality that were mirrored in the invisible forces he first identified as the building blocks of science. More than biography, more than history, more than science, Isaac Newton tells us how, through the mind of one man, we have come to know our place in the cosmos.

SYNOPSIS

Gleick, interpreter of science for the (serious) lay reader in such books as Chaos: Making a New Science, here turns his attention to the pioneering physicist. This narrative traces the emergence of Newton's vision and the fundamental impact his work has had on human consciousness. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

The New York Times

[Gleick's] Isaac Newton is now the biography of choice for the interested layman. Gleick copes with the complex tapestry of Newton's interests by teasing them apart into individual chapters, assembled into a smooth chronological flow. For example, if we look at the extent of Newton's reading list in theology in the same years that led up to the writing of his Principia Mathematica, it is hard to imagine that he had time to do any science or mathematics at all. Gleick does not omit the theology, or Newton's long hours of experimental alchemy, but he partitions them into their own sections, a strategic decision that makes this multifaceted life remarkably accessible. — Owen Gingrich

The Los Angeles Times

Isaac Newton is an elegantly written, insightful work that brings Newton to life and does him justice. Its brevity, which may or may not have been premeditated, seems to have resulted from a rare and relentless insistence on saying solely what can be said confidently and afresh. — Timothy Ferris

Publishers Weekly

Gleick's most renowned writing falls into one of two categories: vivid character studies or broad syntheses of scientific trends. Here, he fuses the two genres with a biography of the man who was emblematic of a new scientific paradigm, but this short study falls a bit short on both counts. The author aims to "ground this book as wholly as possible in its time; in the texts," and his narrative relies heavily on direct quotations from Newton's papers, extensively documented with more than 60 pages of notes. While his attention to historical detail is impressive, Gleick's narrative aims somewhere between academic and popular history, and his take on Newton feels a bit at arms-length, only matching the vibrancy of his Feynman biography at moments (particularly when describing Newton's disputes with such competitors as Robert Hooke or Leibniz). As might be expected, Gleick's descriptions of Newton's scientific breakthroughs are clear and engaging, and his book is strongest when discussing the shift to a mathematical view of the world that Newton championed. In the end, this is a perfectly serviceable overview of Newton's life and work, and will bring this chapter in the history of science to a broader audience, but it lacks the depth one hopes for from a writer of Gleick's abilities. Agent, Michael Carlisle. (May 16) Forecast: Despite the book's flaws, its brevity and Gleick's reputation may make this the perfect intro to Newton for readers new to him or to science. It could generate good sales. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

KLIATT - Daniel Levinson

This short biography, a New York Times Notable Book in hardcover, is remarkably clear, despite its sometimes-difficult scientific subject matter. The book is relatively brief and includes a few scattered, helpful illustrations. Gleick probes some of Newton's personal idiosyncrasies without engaging in wild speculation, and he renders the heart and soul of Newton's physics with simple (but not simplistic) formulations. I doubt students will find any life of the man more accessible. There are good notes and source lists, as well as an index with useful subheadings. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2003, Random House, Vintage, 272p. illus. notes. bibliog. index., Ages 15 to adult.

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