The life of Isaac Newton /

Westfall is the esteemed author of the now-standard biography of Newton, Never at Rest (CH, Jul'81). Undertaken "to make it more accessible to a general audience," the work under review condenses that massive 900-page tome. Surprisingly little is lost in reducing the original by two thirds, and even experts will find the abridgement more lucid and accessible than the original. But even as a popular text the result falls short of minimal scholarly standards and cannot be considered apart form the original, as Westfall himself says. There are no footnotes or references, and the four-page bibliographical essay merely hints at the wealth of sources that appear in the original. The author having turned to other historical subjects, this Life of Newton likewise takes no cognizance of products of the Newton industry appearing since 1980, notable the recent work of Alan E. Shapiro on Newton's optics (Fits, Passions, and Paroxysms, 1993) and Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs on Newton's alchemy (The Janus Faces of Genius, CH, Dec'92). Westfall condenses his original work by close editing and by "reducing its technical content" quite considerably, but the essence of Newton's science remains in detail, and readers without elementary physics will find this work tough sledding. Still, Westfall is a master, and apart from the original, no better or more comprehensive introduction to Newton's life and work is to be had. General; advanced undergraduate; graduate. J. McClellan III; Stevens Institute of Technology

Science historian Westfall presents here an abridged version of his 1980 classic Never at Rest. While shorter, the volume covers the same scope as its parent text: the life, work, and times of Isaac Newton (1643-1727), addressing his varied roles as a private man, theologian, Warden of the Royal Mint, and more. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A condensed version of Westfall's 1981 biography of Newton, Never at Rest (priced at $100 and not reviewed), that nevertheless displays a high level of scholarship and detail. Westfall (History and Philosophy of Science/Indiana University) clearly has pored over the letters and papers that accumulated over Newton's 83-year lifetime (1642-1727), including the theological and alchemical writings as well as the all- important Opticks and Principia. There's a presumption that the reader appreciates the revolution in science wrought by Newton, and the fundamental philosophical disputes between him and his contemporaries: Newton raging against the Cartesians with all their hypothetical and vortex-ridden speculations in contrast to his own theory-grounded-in-experiment approach. But while one can acknowledge the genius that was Newton, not even Westfall--with his consummate understanding, fair-mindedness, and sympathy--can make the man lovable. There are of course, the circumstances of the scientist's life: His father died before he was born, and, when he was three, his mother remarried, leaving the boy to be raised by his maternal grandparents. Without undue emphasis on Freud, Westfall makes clear that such beginnings contributed to the loneliness and isolation, the neuroses, obsessions, and paranoia that characterized the life. The maligning of Robert Hooke, the undermining of the astronomer Flamsteed, and the vicious attack on Leibniz over priority in the invention of calculus add nothing to Newton's luster. Still, the scientist mellowed in the end. He presided over the Royal Society, gained income from his position at the Mint, was generous to his many relatives, and enjoyed the company of his remarkable niece in his house in London. On his deathbed, Newton refused the sacraments, confirming his lifelong anti-Trinitarianism (which could not otherwise be revealed in public). An altogether admirable job of scholarship, whose weightiness is balanced by the surfacing, from time to time, of Westfall's dry humor. (Six halftones; nine line drawings.)