Isaac Newton: Adventurer in Thought (Cambridge Science Biographies)

In this elegant, absorbing biography of Isaac Newton (1642-1727), Rupert Hall surveys the vast field of modern scholarship in order to interpret Newton's mathematical and experimental approach to nature. Mathematics was always the deepest, most innovative and productive of Newton's interests. However, he was also a historian, theologian, chemist, civil servant and natural philosopher. These diverse studies were unified in his single design as a Christian to explore every facet of God's creation. The exploration during the past forty years of Newton's huge manuscript legacy, has greatly altered previous stories of Newton's life, throwing new light on his personality and intellect. Hall's discussion of this research, first published in 1992, shows that Newton cannot simply be explained as a Platonist, or mystic. He remains a complex and enigmatic genius with an immensely imaginative and commonsensical mind.