The Clarks make no bones about it: Sir Issac Newton was one of the greatest scientific minds of the his time. Of all time, in fact. Newton was the symbol of the triumph of science over superstition.

But Newton had a darker side. Despite the fame and recognition he had received, Newton refused to let anyone threaten to overshadow him or stand in his way of greater achievements.

Reverend John Flamsteed was the first Astronomer Royal - a position he held for 44 years serving under 6 kings. He spent his night in the observatory of Greenwich gazing through telescopes, cataloguing the stars. Newton wanted this information to figure out a better way to navigate to oceans, a major problem in his day. He was convinced Flamsteed was holding back the critical information he needed. For that, Newton used all the considerable power at his disposal to end the career of Flamseed. He almost suceeded. It was only because of the dedication of Flamsteed's widow that his 3-volumn Historia Coelestis Britannica was published.

Today, because of Flamsteed's work, we measure longitude from the place he accomlished his work - Greenwich.

The work of Stephen Gray is less known. A commoner trained as a dyer, he was a most unlikely member of the Royal Society.

Gray was a long time friend of Flamsteed. He carried on a regular coorespondence with the elder scientist, sharing with him his own celestial observations.

But it was Gray's pioneering work in using electricity for communications that earned him immortality. Work, that if not for Newton, may have been accomplished 20 years sooner.

Humans need heroes, and those prominent in any field are often portrayed as ideals no matter how flawed they may be in real life. The Clarks, scientists from the UK, have written a fascinating historical study of Isaac Newton, Astronomer Royal Flamsteed, and amateur scientist Gray with the intention of demythologizing Newton and giving Flamsteed and Gray what the authors consider to be their proper place in the development of 17th- and 18th-century science. Gray's contributions to the field of electricity and electrical communications and evidence for Newton's suppression of Gray's work are discussed in some detail together with Flamsteed's work in astronomy; the relationships between Flamsteed, Newton, and Gray; and the political and social climates of the times. The book was not written to demean Newton's accomplishments; the authors devote a fair amount of space to a discussion of Flamsteed's personal foibles that made the feud (concerning Flamsteed's astronomical data supplied t o Newton) between him and Newton difficult to avoid. In the words of the authors, "His [Newton's] genius would survive any detailed scrutiny, but the failure to recognize his aggressive character and his tyrannical behavior meant that the genius of others, including Flamsteed and Gray, was not recognized." All levels.

This is a quick read that is both well-written and well-organized. The authors take few diversions - historical, rhetorical, or empirical - from describing the relations among the characters in the title: the credentialed Newton, the laborious Gray, and the intermediary Flamsteed. The result is a concise and enjoyable report on what is known and what can be reasonably surmised about the relative contributions of these men. There is sufficient detail (and sufficient lack of colouring) to make the book of interest to scientists, and to historians and sociologists of science. But there the book is sufficiently accessibile, and the subject matter sufficiently finite to make it equally appealing to anyone with interest in such topics as politics, organizations, and astronomy, not to mention Newton and his era.

Like other readers I thoroughly enjoyed the foundation trilogy, but had the same feeling that I experienced when reading Sherlock Holmes for the first time i.e. that his deductive conclusions were questionable to say the least.. Examples of this are...... 1. why would the population of Anacreon treat nuclear technology with awe and subsequent religeos reverance whilst retaining space travel and advanced weapons..? 2. physchohistory is supposed to only deal with planetary masses but without the actions of mallow and hardin would the result have been the same , particulally as they appeared to have been the only ones to see the solution. ?. our own world's history is litterd with individuals who have altered the destiny of world history ,napoleon, hitler alexander etc. Despite these faults it still a ripping read! not so the sequels /prequels. Asimov should have left his masterpiece alone. thank god conan doyle cannot ruin sherlock holmes !!

....reminiscent of detective stories but in a futuristic age, the Foundation books occur during the breakup of the Galactic Empire and involve crisis after crisis, most of them planned for by the dead hand of Hari Seldon...positivistic and slanted toward Newtonian scientific values, but very entertaining.

i have enjoyed these books several times, several years apart. good reading that i enjoyed.

In the 1950's, Isaac Asimov, writing under the pseudonym Paul French (later the books were republished under the Asimov name), wrote six science fiction novels for teenagers about a young agent of the "Council of Science," an organization which has considerable power in a world in the distant future. The agent, David Starr, travels throughout the Solar System to combat crime and to protect Earth. Asimov was using these stories to teach the readers facts about the Solar System. Nevertheless, in an introduction written in 1978, Asimov apologizes for the science inaccuracies in this first volume that are now apparent after all of the space probes to Mars. But, as of 1952, it was accurate. (Actually, this introduction to a later reprinting of a science fiction novel is rather unique. I can not recall another author who makes an effort to point out the changes scientific investigation have provided since the original publication of a story. Asimov should be commended for this. In so doing, he continues to teach.) In this first story, David Starr must discover who is the cause of a series of fatal poisonings on Earth and who is blackmailing the farms on Mars. In so doing, he accidentally comes in contact with ancient Martians living beneath the surface.

"The Miller Masks" by Neil D. Isaacs is a good book for people who love short stories, but can also appreciate the fulfillment of a novel. It is also tailor-made for people who wear many hats within their own lives, since the main charcter, Jesse Miller, is many things to many other characters. But above all other roles, Jesse is a storyteller. Issacs reviews five-decades of Miller's life through a series of stories, including a majority told by the central figure, who is also a master storyteller. The tales do not link moment-to-moment, but are instead a collection of chronological episodes that capture the feel and the flavor of the life of the novel's hero. The stories are tragic, bittersweet, pathetic, cerebral, fulfilling, and humorous - sometimes very humorous. Also, it is a story about love which never falls into the traps of become a love story. In the end, Jesse Miller is a character with weaknesses, psychological defenses and self-deprecating humor. This makes him likable and, more importantly, very real to some readers. He is a character many readers will be able to identify with and empathize for.

This is a well written book - part of the Civil War Chronicles
series. It is based on letters written by Major Isaac N Smith
of the 22nd Virginia Infantry, who was involved in fighting the
Union forces in Western Virginia. He makes very scathing comments on General John B Floyd and suggests that the efforts of Robert E Lee to get Floyd and General Wise to co-operate
caused his (Lee's) hair to go grey!
I found all this very interesting as actions in W Virginia seem
to receive liitle mention in general histories I have read.
The final chapter deals with his work in the Confederate Secret
Service after he resigned from the army.
The book has some good photos and paintings and also detailed
maps covering the battles mentioned.

This is not a detailed biography of Newton, nor is it a "pure" technical text dealing with Newton's great accomplishments. Rather, the author takes a quick bite at the overall accomplishments of Newton- which is inventing Calculus, propounding the laws of gravitation and the particle theory of light, with Newton's life story as the frame of reference. The result is a book which is a useful source for a quick introduction to the Life, time and accomplishments of Newton, even for the average reader without any background in physics or maths. My quibbles are the author should have put effort in explaining the science of Newton, rather than getting self-involved in writing charming prose. The author's intention was to give a "sense of Newton" to the reader, at which he succeeds. But, it doesn't give a feeling a satisfaction. It is an cross between reading a story , where some physics concepts are thrown in in a broad manner and punctuated by ornate writing. Obviously, i need to read other books on Newton to know more.

Some of the "superficial" knowledge i gleaned from the book, which i quote at random are:

Newton's enlargement of the binomial theorem made use of mathematical expressions known as Infinite series, which is a series of numbers that goes on forever.

He invented Calculus (Leibiniz also has claim to this honour).

He extended the forces of gravity to the orbit of the moon.. i.e established a connection of sameness between the gravity on earth which brings a apple down to the mystery force which keeps the moon orbiting around the earth without falling into earth.

He advanced the particle theory of light, which said that light was a stream of particles moving in a straight line through space.

He elucidiated his grand ideas on the nature of gravitational forces in his masterpiece "Principia". The universe revealed by principia containts particles, forces and mathematical structures. It has three specific laws of motion, two general principles of time and space. The three laws are familiar to any high school student- the law of inertia, law of acceleration and the law of action and reaction. The second law is the mysterious one which needs further explanation.; The principles of time and space wre absolute time and absolute space i.e time and space are measurable.

Why doesn't moon crash into the earth, instead of orbiting around it?? - Newton's analysis begins with the law of inertia. The moon's natural trajectory in the sky is a straight line. It travels in a fixed velocity, because no forces are inducing acceleration in it. But, since the moon is orbiting circularly around the earth, there is a force on it which is continuously deforming it's path. Since the resulting path is circular, the force must be centripetal whose origin is at the centre of the earth. (eg: carousel). Based on the second law, the force makes the moon accelerate continuously towards the centre of the earth. It does not fall into the earth because it's natural trajectory (straight line) and the centripetal force of the gravity from the earth balance out, due to which the moon falls forever without falling into the earth. (rotates).

Newton's universal gravity law states every material object attracts every other material object, with a force that is proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of distance between them.

Note, gravity is explained for what it does, what it affects, but there is no explanation for what gravity actually is. It remains a mystery.

Regarding Newton's personal life- his spars with Robert Hookes, Leibiniz shows him in poor light - as somebody vindictive, vain and secretive. His successful stint as the Master of Mint, in a bureacractic role of crushing counterfieting which was profuse at that time, is an achievement unique in the sense that we do not often find a great scientist and Govt official in the same person! Also, another curious aspect of Newton's life was he never married and is widely considered to have lead a celibate life; and yes, the apple boink on his head is apocryphal.

David Berlinski has created a marvelous intellectual history focusing on the progression of Newton's epic breakthrough thinking. He does this in a way that is totally accessible to those who are phobic about mathematics. The explanations are achieved through a skillful combination of simple sentences, symbols, pictures, and diagrams. The presentation is so effective that most readers will find their understanding of important mathematical and scientific principles greatly improved. This is a great book!

Newton was a seminal thinker in the areas of mathematics (developing calculus), physics (with his propositions about gravity and motion), and optics (with his conceptualization of light as being comprised of particles moving in parallel). He also did much work in theology and alchemy, which are recounted here.

A key challenge for David Berlinski was presented by Newton's reticence. He was not a very social person, and wrote almost nothing about how he developed his ideas. Berlinksi does a magnificent job of locating and sharing hints and clues about the bases of these intuitive leaps. This result is enhanced by considering the continuing themes in Newton's thinking, and assuming a connection to his intuition. I suspect that Berlinski is right in connecting the dots that way, but we will never know for sure.

The centerpiece of our story turns out to be the tangent to a curve. From that humble beginning, most of our modern understanding of how physical motion takes place follows.

I also enjoyed better understanding how Newton's thinking was aided by the careful observations and conclusions of Kepler.

If the history of science were always this entertaining, this subject would be one of the most popular majors in colleges.

As Berlinksi tells us in the beginning his purpose in the book is "to offer a sense of the man without specifying in details his . . . activities." This allows us to see the other sides of Newton, but without spending too much time on them. Newton was not perfect. We get glimpses of places where he wasted his time, such as his unsuccessful experiments with alchemy. We also see his flirtations and infatuations. Beyond that, we see what could enrage him, and how he took his revenge. This fleshing out of the whole man makes the scientific history all the more compelling.

If you liked David Berlinski's book, The Birth of the Algorithm, you will probably like this one even better. The asides are much more contained and relevant here.

For those who want a little more math with their scientific history, Berlinski has provided supplementary materials that are quite entertaining.

After you have finished enjoying this wonderful romp, I suggest that you think about where everyday events are unexplained in your life. For example, why do the people you meet with act the way they do? Why is progress slow in many areas, and rapid in others? By looking for connections, you, too, may isolate fundamental principles that can expand our own appreciation as a species of how we achieve understanding. The mysteries of how to improve thinking are still mostly unsolved, and many are relatively unexplored. Perhaps you can be the Newton of this important "last frontier" of self-limiting progress for humans.

Think about it!

In his book Newton's Gift - How Sir Isaac Newton Unlocked the System of the World David Berlinski presents us with an engaging biography of Newton. What I personally liked was the fact that Berlinski avoided the trap of many biographies that merely present names, dates and places. In this book we see the person that Newton was and how it affected his study of mathematics.One of the main reasons that one should study the history of mathematics is to appreciate the human side of its creation. Berlinski presents Newton's human side quite well.

If you are looking for a lot of detailed mathematics, you probably won't find it here. The mathematics is presented at a very readable and understandable level. This is certainly accessible to the average undergraduate math/physics major.

I recommend this book without hesitation.

This is not a book you would want your children to read! The short stories are inspired by modern-day, Frankenstein-like concepts (most having nothing to do with the movie or book characters) and there are explicit sexual scenes and references: pleasure robots, AIDS, rape, fisting, etc. Most of the stories are disgusting; I would not recommend them to anyone.

While some of the stories in this book are pretty good, most of them are just writing exercises by writers slumming in a collection. The Vonnegut story is dull and the cyberpunk story isn't anything new. Most of the other stories are either sequels to the book (which has the monster even more miserable than he was at the end of the novel) or to the movie (which are more fun just because the movies were more fun)

It's a short book and not terribly bad, but it's not altogether satisfying either.

A well-crafted compilation of tales; a good deal more discriminating than most monster/horror collections (because less material on Frankenstein's monster?). A great many of these stories are literature - some poignant, sentimental, mostly tragic and some actually scary; just like the myth that was their mother. The Vonnegut peice, "Fortitude" is a short play. While more simple in its statement and language than the other pieces, is fast and sharp on irony. "Monster of the Midway" is a short funny piece in a nontraditional arrangement, amusing even if you don't like football. "Pity the Monsters" has its pitiful and frightening moments. And Brian Aldiss' "Summertime was Nearly Over" almost made me cry. The creature that is the protoganist of Aldiss' story is achingly intelligent and well-spoken. But I think my favorite was "Creature on the Couch" despite its sudden and ambigous ending. It's funny and charming while being somewhat suspenseful, and maybe a little shocking as you re-read the ending again...

The book is easy to read. Common diseases in the fields of pediatrics are included. Through review of all infectious entities in the pediatrics is beyound the scope of this book. Detailed therapeutic methods do not included in this book and this is the major drawback. Despite this limitation, this book is still worthy reading for medical students and general practitioners.

Why was Skal given the inspiration for a concept he just couldn't handle? Oh, the agony! The idea of a robotic body replacement syndrome in modern America is brilliant. So was Skal's idea of how to treat the topic-- a societal neurosis, like anorexia, a talk-show scandal. But the execution! Arrgghh! The therapist who helps the afflicted is not only unbelievable, his character is gratuitously disgusting. The novel works when it keeps us on the edge of being drawn into a technofetishist's fantasy... but suddenly, we're there, the robots are here, beep beep. The effect is stupid. Would have been better if Skal had just stayed in the now-world and made a mainstream novel instead of going bad SF on us. Shame on you, Skal! You should've spent an extra year on this novel, or let somebody else write it! In addition, Asimov's intorduction is insufferably vain, something like "I thought of this first in my short story _Segregationist_." Whatever, Isaac.

David was a 16 year old boy, who enters an institution, because of his nightmares and fear of touch. He meets a young girl by the name of Lisa who has a split personality. This story is of their growing as a person, growing in love. This story wasn't like anything I have ever read before, because it was written as a case story would be. The only real thing that I found similar about this book was that two people fall in love. I was very touched by the character of Lisa. The reason why is that Lisa has a split personality. One moment I could be extremely happy and the next severly depressed. I could understand her more than the character of David. "Big fat John, fat cat John---he's gone, he's gone---Fat John is gone!" This was from her personality when she was Lisa. While when she is Muriel she is no longer childish, but more lady like and silent. I really liked the theme of the book, which was that people can change and can get better over time. The reason I rated this book so low, is because I had really didn't like how it was written. I found that the play was written a lot better. In the play and movie, you got to meet characters like Simon, Josette, Kate, Carlos, Sandra, and etc. They were also students at this institution. I did like how you got see more of what David and Lisa were thinking and their background. You could start to get a sense of their background.I really hated how the book ended, but I enjoyed the moment when David and Lisa met. This book is not for everyone and I really do not recommend it, unless you are trying to get background on Lisa and David, or have an extra half an hour to burn. But I do highly recommend reading/seeing the play and/or seeing the movie.