Isaac Newton: Amazon.ca: Michael White: Books

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From Amazon.com

Science writer Michael White's subtitle, The Last Sorcerer, echoes John Maynard Keynes's assertion in 1942 that Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was not the Olympian rationalist portrayed by his worshipful early biographers. Newton was a great scientist, the author acknowledges; he was also an "obsessive, driven mystic," deeply involved in the pseudoscience of alchemy, subscriber to a heretical sect of Christianity, and damaged survivor of childhood traumas that rendered him a difficult, egotistical, quarrelsome adult. White makes recent research accessible to the general reader in lucid prose that knocks the academic dust off a towering historical figure. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Considering the large number of books written about Isaac Newton, another such volume hardly seems necessary. Nevertheless, this revisionist biography clearly deserves consideration. White, coauthor of Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science (LJ 5/1/92) and a regular contributor to numerous scholarly and popular periodicals including New Scientist, reveals a Newton who was not only a brilliant scientist but also a man who spent a large part of his life intensely involved with alchemy, leaving us over one million words on the subject. Newton also spent a considerable amount of time studying biblical prophecy, astrology, numerology, and natural magic. Noting that the distinction between science and magic in the 1600s was not as clear-cut as it is today, White does not intend to dethrone Newton; rather he asks us to see Newton as a man and to accept his peculiarities and failings along with his skills and talents. Well written and researched, White's book is recommended for public and academic libraries.?James Olson, Northeastern Illinois Univ. Lib., Chicago
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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3.8 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great biography of a twisted genius, May 10 2004

By	Jmark2001 (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Isaac Newton: The Last Sorcerer (Paperback)

Think that Isaac Newton was the epitome of the cool, scientific, humanist mind? Think again. It turns out that the greatest scientific genius in history was a twisted, tortured mystic with homosexual tendencies, an ability to hold grudges for decades, an egomaniac, and a very petty man. The word "queen" (...) comes to mind. He spent a few years on his great mathematical and physics work. He spent decades and decades attempting to decipher alchemy and the Old Testament prophecies. He predicted the year that Chist would return to earth (1948). He thought the design of Solomon's temple was a code for all of recorded history. He wasted year after year on absurd alchemical experiments. He subscribed to the heresy of Arianism. He was deeply religious (and not at all secular) in his outlook (though not in his behavior). He was incapable of much human affection having been damaged by his upbringing. He went nuts several times. He sought revenge on his (perceived) enemies and did so with a tenacity and a ferocity that bordered on being satanic. This is an individual who would have been very comfortable as a guest on Art Bell's "Coast to Coast" program along with alien abduction "experts" and conspiracy theorists. He was brilliant and his mathematical work is still astounding. But forget the idea that he was some symbol of the new man of the enlightenment. He was nothing of the sort. A heck of a good read.

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3.0 out of 5 stars The best biography of Newton I've read to date, Dec 31 2003

By	Keith Appleyard "kapple999" (Brighton, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Isaac Newton: The Last Sorcerer (Paperback)

I've read other biographies of Sir Isaac Newton, and this is the best. As the title suggests, there is an emphasis on his interest in Alchemy.

I worried (unnecessarily as it turned out) that other aspects of his life would be neglected. But his time at the Royal Mint, and his clashes with Huygens, Hooke, Leibniz etc are well covered.

The only disappointment for some readers might be that this is not an overtly scientific/mathematical biography - there are no formulae : so if you want to know that little more detail about Newton's discoveries, such as the Laws of Motion, Laws of Gravity, and Differential Calculus, you won't see any of that in here. In fact the word 'Gravity' (perhaps his most famous discovery) doesn't even appear in the Index (although the 'Apple' does).

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3.0 out of 5 stars Sensationalistic but Interesting, Dec 25 2003

By	Chad Davies "Downhill" (Barnesville, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Isaac Newton: The Last Sorcerer (Paperback)

In his biography of Newton, White takes issue with the mythology built up by numerous previous biographers of Newton's highly rationalistic approach to science and mathematics. Instead, he presents Newton as a mystic and compulsive figure at odds with much of the thinking of what will become the scientific revolution.

While White's investigations of Newton's intensive work in alchemy is very interesting and somewhat insightful as to understanding some of the places from which Newton may have drawn inspiration; many of his other assertations are not as bold as he presents or may be somewhat inaccurate. An example of this is Newton's strongly Arian views regarding religion. While certainly at odds with the theological dispositions of Cambridge, Newton's views were shared by a number of other historical figures of the time including John Locke. White fails to place Newton's theological thinking within a broader context of thought in Europe and in Britain at the time and, hence, sensationalizes the issue.

Nowhere is this more obvious and evident than in White's treatment of Newton's relationship with a young French mathematician. Without a great deal of substantiation and in spite of Newton's other relationships White supposes this relationship to be a product of Newton's homosexual tendancies rather than an obsessive-compulsive personality. Again, it seems that the book is written more in a style of the British tabloids than in responsible biography.

What does make this biography worth reading is its attempt to examine the psychological makeup of Newton and what factors might have influenced that makeup.

A serious student of Newton's life will find this biography an interesting read but should temper it by also investigating the recent biography by James Gleick.

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