My latest read was:
Newton’s Notebook - The Life, Times and Discoveries of Sir Isaac NewtonJ. Levy
The book was a great introduction to Isaac Newton’s life and accomplishments- it’s short and to the point. It covers the major accomplishments- He developed calculus to help him understand and describe the motion of the planets around the sun. He defined gravity and optics. He invented the scientific method. Before him, science was a type of philosophy- natural philosophy. This type of "science" was done my smart people thinking up explanations that describe natural phenomena. Newton was the first to explain that's just part of it. He invented the concept of experimentation, the key ingredient of the modern scientific method. He also hinted at a unifying theory for gravity, and other microscopic "unknown forces"- similar to today's elusive unified field theory.
He dabbled quite seriously in chemistry (alchemy), and was an "expert" in the "field"- although did not complete any works on the subject-- mostly because alchemy, while being the precursor to modern chemistry, was in many ways mysticism- dabblers were secretive, and only communicated on the subject with other dabblers. This type of secrecy fit nicely with a major flaw in his character- he was overly secretive, almost to the point of paranoia- almost costing him dearly. This trait allowed other great men to catch up while he kept his work under wraps....
He also spent much of his life trying to knit together his scientific discoveries with his theological research, which was pretty much a dead end. And in the end, he may have thought himself a failure.
But he wasn’t just a scientist and philosopher.
He also saved the Royal Society, and cleaned up a horrible mess at the Royal Mint. But he was also a jackass. He was rude and hostile toward anyone who disagreed with him (or even questioned him). He was also fiercely vindictive. While with the Mint, he ruthlessly pursued counterfeiters, and saw them hung, despite the fact that prosecution was not necessarily part of his mandate. When he was voted in charge of the Royal Society, a significant portion of the membership would not vote for him due to his disagreeable nature and temperament.
For me, this book whet my appetite to have a look at his The Principia- but that’s a pretty tall tree to climb for now...
