Swift, agile treatment of a little known but highly entertaining episode in a legendary life.
The story of how the author of Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, who was also an official of the Royal Mint, pursued with Javertian intensity London’s most brazen passer of bad coins.
Levenson (Science Studies/MIT; Einstein in Berlin, 2003, etc.) demonstrates a surpassing felicity in his brisk treatment of this late-17th-century true-crime adventure. One narrative difficulty is that there’s far more documentation about Isaac Newton than about counterfeiter William Chaloner, so the author is forced to rely heavily on an unreliable, anonymous biography of Chaloner published in 1699, not long after its subject was hanged for his crimes. Levenson is careful, however, to remind us continually of that biography’s flaws, and he digs out other information on the brash counterfeiter from public records and elsewhere, including Newton’s papers. The author cuts back and forth between the careers of his two main characters. We see Newton moving with focused ferocity through a variety of obsessions—the well known (mathematics, physics), the lesser known (alchemy, biblical prophecy) and the least known (his long career at the Mint). The details of Chaloner’s career are sketchy, but it’s clear he was both extraordinarily clever with mechanical devices and circumspect about his counterfeiting, rarely letting Player A on his team know what Player B was about and rarely getting within convictable range of any damning evidence. Chaloner tried to insinuate himself into the Mint, gave evidence at Parliamentary inquiries as if he were a disinterested authority on coinage, published pamphlets about monetary matters and, at the end, fought desperately and ingeniously for his life against Newton, who had initially underestimated his quarry. Levenson departs from the strong current of his narrative only when it’s necessary to explain a bit of London history or the workings of the legal and financial systems of the day.
Swift, agile treatment of a little known but highly entertaining episode in a legendary life.Pub Date: June 4, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-15-101278-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2009
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both...
Italian theoretical physicist Rovelli (General Relativity: The Most Beautiful of Theories, 2015, etc.) shares his thoughts on the broader scientific and philosophical implications of the great revolution that has taken place over the past century.
These seven lessons, which first appeared as articles in the Sunday supplement of the Italian newspaper Sole 24 Ore, are addressed to readers with little knowledge of physics. In less than 100 pages, the author, who teaches physics in both France and the United States, cogently covers the great accomplishments of the past and the open questions still baffling physicists today. In the first lesson, he focuses on Einstein's theory of general relativity. He describes Einstein's recognition that gravity "is not diffused through space [but] is that space itself" as "a stroke of pure genius." In the second lesson, Rovelli deals with the puzzling features of quantum physics that challenge our picture of reality. In the remaining sections, the author introduces the constant fluctuations of atoms, the granular nature of space, and more. "It is hardly surprising that there are more things in heaven and earth, dear reader, than have been dreamed of in our philosophy—or in our physics,” he writes. Rovelli also discusses the issues raised in loop quantum gravity, a theory that he co-developed. These issues lead to his extraordinary claim that the passage of time is not fundamental but rather derived from the granular nature of space. The author suggests that there have been two separate pathways throughout human history: mythology and the accumulation of knowledge through observation. He believes that scientists today share the same curiosity about nature exhibited by early man.
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both scientists and general readers.Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-18441-3
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A magnificent account of a central reality of our times, incorporating deep scientific expertise, broad political and social knowledge, and ethical insight, and Idled with beautifully written biographical sketches of the men and women who created nuclear physics. Rhodes describes in detail the great scientific achievements that led up to the invention of the atomic bomb. Everything of importance is examined, from the discovery of the atomic nucleus and of nuclear fission to the emergence of quantum physics, the invention of the mass-spectroscope and of the cyclotron, the creation of such man-made elements as plutonium and tritium, and implementation of the nuclear chain reaction in uranium. Even more important, Rhodes shows how these achievements were thrust into the arms of the state, which culminated in the unfolding of the nuclear arms race. Often brilliantly, he records the rise of fascism and of anti-Semitism, and the intensification of nationalist ambitions. He traces the outbreak of WW II, which provoked a hysterical rivalry among nations to devise the bomb. This book contains a grim description of Japanese resistance, and of the horrible psychological numbing that caused an unparalleled tolerance for human suffering and destruction. Rhodes depicts the Faustian scale of the Manhattan Project. His account of the dropping of the bomb itself, and of the awful firebombing that prepared its way, is unforgettable. Although Rhodes' gallery of names and events is sometimes dizzying, his scientific discussions often daunting, he has written a book of great drama and sweep. A superb accomplishment.
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1986
ISBN: 0684813785
Page Count: 932
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1986
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