From the bestselling author of "Science: A History" comes the enthralling story of a revolution that shook the world. Seventeenth-century England was racked by civil war, plague and fire; a world ruled by superstition and ignorance. A series of meetings of natural philosophers' in Oxford and London saw the beginning of a new method of thinking based on proof and experiment. John Gribbin's gripping, colourful account of this unparalleled time of discovery explores the impact of the Royal Society, culminating with Isaac Newton's revolutionary description of the universe and Edmund Halley's prediction of the return of a comet in 1759. This compelling book shows the triumph not as the work of one isolated genius, but of a Fellowship.
Review
"Full of interesting detail and anecdotage, a warm and readable history of a key era in science." -- Kirkus
"A portrait gallery displaying a group of remarkable characters who made important contributions to the rise of modern science in the seventeenth century...A lively and readable account." -- Freeman Dyson, The New York Review of Books _
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_"Rich and readable" --The Times
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_"This excellent work of popular science is a first-rate account of the seventeenth-century revolution in scientific perception that shook the world." --The Herald
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"What makes [Gribbin] the master of popular science writing, however, is not just his range, but also the perfect clarity that allows non-scientific readers to grasp some highly difficult, but essential, ideas.... His success is as much a matter of literary prowess as scientific acumen." --Scotsman Critique
About the Author
John Gribbin is among the greatest writers of popular science and is author of In Search of Schrodinger's Cat, Stardust, and Science: A History. 'His gift lies not just in eloquent and lucid presentation of complicated ideas, but in writing about them as if they were adventures.' The Financial Times.