Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the birth of the modern world
English language
Published Nov. 10, 2011 by HarperCollins.
In the late seventeenth century, chaos and disease reigned. Streets overflowed with filth and the murder rate was five times higher than it is today. Sickness was divine punishment, astronomy and astrology were indistinguishable, and the world’s most brilliant, ambitious, and curious scientists were tormented by contradiction. They believed in angels, devils, and alchemy, yet also believed that the universe followed precise mathematical laws that were as intricate and perfectly regulated as the mechanisms of a great clock.
The Clockwork Universe captures these thinkers as they wrestled with nature’s most sweeping mysteries. Award-winning writer Edward Dolnick illuminates the fascinating personalities of Newton, Leibniz, Kepler, and others, and vividly animates their momentous struggle during an era when little was known and everything was new—battles of will, faith, and intellect that would change the course of history itself.
I didn't know what to expect going into this. I got it because it was on sale, but I really enjoyed it. It gave me a deeper knowledge of Newton, his contemporaries and predecessors. I didn't previously know what a jerk Newton must have been, and gained a new liking for Liebniz.
A well written and easy to understand account of Isaac Newton and the Principia Mathematica. There are some nice biographical touches, but this isn't really a biography of him. It is more a biography of the time, with a focus on Newton. A little soft on the science I daresay, but good nonetheless.
This was a slightly tricky book to rate. I gave it four stars out of five on the merit of the book itself, though I would recommend it mostly to people who are interested in the history of science but not heavily read in that area already. This book is not one that sets a standard for scholarship, but is a well-written introduction to a worthy topic.
Isaac Newton is the primary focus of this book, though his rival Leibniz also comes in for some discussion. And Newton is valuable because he represents a transition to the modern world. Because of his invention of calculus and his laws of motion, he is regarded as one of the first modern scientists, and deservedly so. But he was equally one of the lats great medieval thinkers, drenched in religiosity, and a devoted investigator in alchemy. So he was born into a medieval …
This was a slightly tricky book to rate. I gave it four stars out of five on the merit of the book itself, though I would recommend it mostly to people who are interested in the history of science but not heavily read in that area already. This book is not one that sets a standard for scholarship, but is a well-written introduction to a worthy topic.
Isaac Newton is the primary focus of this book, though his rival Leibniz also comes in for some discussion. And Newton is valuable because he represents a transition to the modern world. Because of his invention of calculus and his laws of motion, he is regarded as one of the first modern scientists, and deservedly so. But he was equally one of the lats great medieval thinkers, drenched in religiosity, and a devoted investigator in alchemy. So he was born into a medieval world, where the great fire of London and the Plague were seen as God's judgement on a sinful people. But when he died it was a modern world, and he did a lot to make it so. so the sub-title is really quite accurate.
One of the things that should get you thinking as you read between the lines, particularly in the first part of the book, is how people reacted to the Plague. With no understanding of disease, and an assumption that such things were the just visitations of a wrathful God, they had no alternative but to die in huge numbers. Now we have science and medicine that can protest us, but those very accomplishments that define the modern world are under attack right now by religious fundamentalists who would drag us back to those days. We need to be constantly vigilant to stop them.
This was a very interesting book, describing all of the factors that led to our current understanding of science and the world around us.
My pleasure was somewhat stayed by the author's conclusion in the final chapter that modern scientists have proven that the modern world is no place for God. No proof is provided and, the book's presentation in prior chapters makes it clear that the laws of science are not qualified to prove or disprove the existence of God.
René Descartes, the first thinker to provide a philosophical framework for modern science, attempts to arrive at a fundamental set of principles that one can know as true without any doubt. Descartes' conclusion "cogito ergo sum" (English: "I think, therefore I am"), or thought cannot be separated from me, therefore, I exist, is seen as the first stepping stone to our current understanding of science...yet this viewpoint also …
This was a very interesting book, describing all of the factors that led to our current understanding of science and the world around us.
My pleasure was somewhat stayed by the author's conclusion in the final chapter that modern scientists have proven that the modern world is no place for God. No proof is provided and, the book's presentation in prior chapters makes it clear that the laws of science are not qualified to prove or disprove the existence of God.
René Descartes, the first thinker to provide a philosophical framework for modern science, attempts to arrive at a fundamental set of principles that one can know as true without any doubt. Descartes' conclusion "cogito ergo sum" (English: "I think, therefore I am"), or thought cannot be separated from me, therefore, I exist, is seen as the first stepping stone to our current understanding of science...yet this viewpoint also describes the fundamental limitation of science, namely that science is limited by human senses and the boundaries of human thought.
It is true that men carrying the name of Jesus murdered and tortured scientists out of ignorance and insecurity. It is true that scientists' religious beliefs often caused them to make missteps and quarrels amongst themselves. However, these facts, contrary to the book's conclusions, are not logically sound proofs against the existence of God, but instead address the fallibility of man.
The limits placed on science by its base philosophy voiced by Descartes prohibit it from proving or disproving God. The only logical conclusion an honest scientist can make about the existence of God is that if he exists, he is not quantifiable by human observations and measurements, regardless of the amount of thought focused on the problem. Ironically, this is exactly what Paul says regarding God in 1 Corinthians 1:25: "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."
