The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World

452 Pages·2011·0.89 MB·English

by  Edward Dolnick

The Clockwork Universe
Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the
Modern World
EDWARD DOLNICK

For Lynn

The universe is but a watch on a larger scale.
—BERNARD DE FONTENELLE, 1686
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Epigraph

Chronology
Preface

Part One: Chaos
Chapter One - London, 1660
Chapter Two - Satan’s Claws
Chapter Three - The End of the World
Chapter Four - “When Spotted Death Ran Arm’d Through Every
Street”
Chapter Five - Melancholy Streets
Chapter Six - Fire
Chapter Seven - God at His Drawing Table
Chapter Eight - The Idea That Unlocked the World
Chapter Nine - Euclid and Unicorns
Chapter Ten - The Boys’ Club
Chapter Eleven - To the Barricades!
Chapter Twelve - Dogs and Rascals
Chapter Thirteen - A Dose of Poison
Chapter Fourteen - Of Mites and Men
Chapter Fifteen - A Play Without an Audience
Chapter Sixteen - All in Pieces

Part Two: Hope and Monsters
Chapter Seventeen - Never Seen Until This Moment
Chapter Eighteen - Flies as Big as a Lamb
Chapter Nineteen - From Earthworms to Angels
Chapter Twenty - The Parade of the Horribles
Chapter Twenty-One - “Shuddering Before the Beautiful”
Chapter Twenty-Two - Patterns Made with Ideas
Chapter Twenty-Three - God’s Strange Cryptography
Chapter Twenty-Four - The Secret Plan
Chapter Twenty-Five - Tears of Joy
Chapter Twenty-Six - Walrus with a Golden Nose
Chapter Twenty-Seven - Cracking the Cosmic Safe
Chapter Twenty-Eight - The View from the Crow’s Nest
Chapter Twenty-Nine - Sputnik in Orbit, 1687
Chapter Thirty - Hidden in Plain Sight
Chapter Thirty-One - Two Rocks and a Rope
Chapter Thirty-Two - A Fly on the Wall
Chapter Thirty-Three - “Euclid Alone Has Looked on Beauty Bare”
Chapter Thirty-Four - Here Be Monsters!
Photographic Insert
Chapter Thirty-Five - Barricaded Against the Beast
Chapter Thirty-Six - Out of the Whirlpool

Part Three: Into the Light
Chapter Thirty-Seven - All Men Are Created Equal
Chapter Thirty-Eight - The Miracle Years
Chapter Thirty-Nine - All Mystery Banished
Chapter Forty - Talking Dogs and Unsuspected Powers
Chapter Forty-One - The World in Close-Up
Chapter Forty-Two - When the Cable Snaps
Chapter Forty-Three - The Best of All Possible Feuds
Chapter Forty-Four - Battle’s End
Chapter Forty-Five - The Apple and the Moon
Chapter Forty-Six - A Visit to Cambridge
Chapter Forty-Seven - Newton Bears Down
Chapter Forty-Eight - Trouble with Mr. Hooke
Chapter Forty-Nine - The System of the World
Chapter Fifty - Only Three People
Chapter Fifty-One - Just Crazy Enough
Chapter Fifty-Two - In Search of God
Chapter Fifty-Three - Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Illustration Credits
Index
Also by Edward Dolnick
Copyright
About the Publisher