false 17098 9 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: <p> <blockquote>.... 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.</blockquote> <p> 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. <I>--Therese Littleton</I> 1494177 2003 Isaac Newton total:231|5:40|4:92|3:83|2:12|1:4| 231 845 357 38 4 1 false false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 26 13:41:39 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 26 13:44:54 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jun 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 19:56:52 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 20:18:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Sep 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 20:48:57 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 20:57:39 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Feb 09 06:21:22 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 06:21:22 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 30 20:59:49 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 30 21:02:17 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Aug 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 21 10:53:09 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 09:14:34 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed May 09 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Apr 13 19:09:37 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 19:09:37 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Jul 07 12:39:44 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 12:41:04 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Jun 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Feb 02 22:19:30 -0800 2008 Sun Jun 28 18:24:24 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Apr 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 13:44:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 13:45:59 -0700 2009
A fine way to pass time.]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 22 12:37:03 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 22 12:54:40 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun May 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 18 08:04:03 -0700 2008 Sun May 24 20:05:34 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jul 26 13:52:14 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 26 13:52:53 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Feb 08 04:16:44 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 08 04:41:37 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Tue Dec 23 07:18:49 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 23 07:19:43 -0800 2008 4 0 true false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Sat Mar 28 08:46:54 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 28 08:50:10 -0700 2009 1 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Sat Dec 08 14:15:28 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 08 14:23:59 -0800 2007
Newton is without doubt one of the greatest geniuses of all time. But he was al...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Aug 10 07:50:48 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 10 07:54:42 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun May 31 11:22:37 -0700 2009 Sun May 31 11:23:16 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu May 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 14 21:12:53 -0700 2009 Thu May 14 21:13:45 -0700 2009