I found this to be an excellent piece of work and one of the best short biographies I’ve ever read. Gleick does a wonderful job in presenting the life and world of Isaac Newton. A great bio for the general public looking to learn more the about the life of this great man, and Required reading for any student of the history of science. ( )

Kind of thin. ( )

This is a clever book by Gleick.

Biographies come in a variety of forms, and often, for science subjects, they tend to be a chronology of facts linked by anecdotes and observation – from contemporaries, the author, and other observers. Here Gleick embeds us in Newton’s world; in particular, with its limitations and Newton’s personal difficulties.

As a result, the cause for Newton’s challenging personality and his remoteness and seclusion become comprehensible. As does, the lack of a compendium of mathematics, which Newton provided while simultaneously discovering much (for him) low-hanging fruit – and not so low-hanging, because Newton was curious, patient, and meticulous. As Gleick puts it, “… he had made tools”, which riffs off the epigraph from John Conduitt (Newton’s relative) of Newton building the first reflecting telescope:

"I asked him where he had it made, he said he made it himself, & when I asked him where he got his tools said he made them himself & laughing added if I had staid for other people to make my tools & things for me, I had never made anything…”

It’s fascinating how for centuries, millennia even, that what we call science was debated in words; that mathematics, though it existed, was a sideshow. It took the combination of Bacon’s vision and marketing, the creation of the Royal Society, and Newton’s mathematics and experimentation to move from “philosophy (of science)” to “natural philosophy”.

Historically, Newton's work caused, in effect, philosophy to become philosophy and physics.

The science is covered in historical and narrative contexts without any technical detail. If you are after an understanding of Newton’s work itself, then this is probably not the best read.


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Gleick is a good writer and if you are unfamiliar with Newton and his biography, this is a good place to start. It is written well, the science is explained well, and it narrates the major events in Newton's life in a good fashion. If you have read deeply about Newton, say biographies by Westfall or Christianson, then you will find this a good diversion, but ultimately unsatisfying, as much of his alchemy, theology, and life are glossed over, telescoped, or omitted. ( )

A bit too cursory. I knew much of this story already. I was hoping for more details and insights into his paradoxical character. Instead this just rushes through the highlights of his life and achievements. Still, if you don't know anything about Newton, it's worth a read. ( )