voyaging through strange seas of thought, alone

Voyaging through Strange Seas of Thought, AloneIsaac Newton: Adventurer in Thought by A. Rupert HallReview by: Stuart HollingdaleNotes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Jan., 1994), pp. 154-156Published by: The Royal SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/531430 .

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Book Reviews Book Reviews

examiners, she has related Moore's life and work to his background so profusely as often to lose him in historical detail. In particular, it is not always clear as to

precisely what contributions his Arith- metick made, for example. There is a

great deal of material here from which all historians of the period can profit; not for the first time I marvel at the wealth of detailed information which can be ascertained by the industrious about the

examiners, she has related Moore's life and work to his background so profusely as often to lose him in historical detail. In particular, it is not always clear as to

precisely what contributions his Arith- metick made, for example. There is a

great deal of material here from which all historians of the period can profit; not for the first time I marvel at the wealth of detailed information which can be ascertained by the industrious about the

lives of even quite minor seventeenth- century men.

This is a most useful book. Perhaps in ten years' time Dr Willmoth will feel ready to produce a more general picture of Moore's life and work which will make plainer Moore's undoubted contributions to the mathematical and scientific scene of seventeenth-century England.

lives of even quite minor seventeenth- century men.

This is a most useful book. Perhaps in ten years' time Dr Willmoth will feel ready to produce a more general picture of Moore's life and work which will make plainer Moore's undoubted contributions to the mathematical and scientific scene of seventeenth-century England.

'VOYAGING THROUGH STRANGE SEAS OF THOUGHT, ALONE'

A. Rupert Hall. Isaac Newton: Adventurer in Thought. Blackwells, Oxford, 1992. Pp. xv + 468, £19.99. ISBN 0631179062

Reviewed by STUART HOLLINGDALE

'Nedfield Hey', Lower Froyle, Alton, Hants GU34 4LH

'VOYAGING THROUGH STRANGE SEAS OF THOUGHT, ALONE'

A. Rupert Hall. Isaac Newton: Adventurer in Thought. Blackwells, Oxford, 1992. Pp. xv + 468, £19.99. ISBN 0631179062

Reviewed by STUART HOLLINGDALE

'Nedfield Hey', Lower Froyle, Alton, Hants GU34 4LH

Rupert Hall has been at the centre of Newtonian scholarship for forty years. This elegant volume, the mature product of a near-lifetime of intensive study and reflection, has been well worth waiting for.

Throughout his long life (1642-1727) Newton was continually re-writing, amending and discarding his many drafts. His huge manuscript legacy has been extensively explored - and much of it published - during recent years. Hall is completely at home among this mass of material. His numerous cross- references and quotations - many from Newton himself - are meticulously in- dexed in some 900 separate notes.

In a book of fairly modest size (381 pages of main text), selection is essen- tial. The first sentence of Hall's Fore-

Rupert Hall has been at the centre of Newtonian scholarship for forty years. This elegant volume, the mature product of a near-lifetime of intensive study and reflection, has been well worth waiting for.

Throughout his long life (1642-1727) Newton was continually re-writing, amending and discarding his many drafts. His huge manuscript legacy has been extensively explored - and much of it published - during recent years. Hall is completely at home among this mass of material. His numerous cross- references and quotations - many from Newton himself - are meticulously in- dexed in some 900 separate notes.

In a book of fairly modest size (381 pages of main text), selection is essen- tial. The first sentence of Hall's Fore-

word makes his priorities clear. 'I have endeavoured here to write an account of the greatest mind in British history' (my italics). For a full technical treatment of Newton's mathematical and optical re- searches, Hall refers his readers to the specialists: notably to D.T. Whiteside, whose 'epoch making' (Hall's words) The Mathematical Papers of Isaac New- ton appeared in eight large volumes be- tween 1967 and 1984.

Recent Newtonian research has greatly enlarged our perception of this com- plex and enigmatic genius. He was one of the last great polymaths: theologian, historian, (al)chemist, mathematician, civil servant, public grandee, and much else. Artistic and sensual pleasures were, it seems, denied to him. (Hall even tells us there is no evidence that Newton ever

word makes his priorities clear. 'I have endeavoured here to write an account of the greatest mind in British history' (my italics). For a full technical treatment of Newton's mathematical and optical re- searches, Hall refers his readers to the specialists: notably to D.T. Whiteside, whose 'epoch making' (Hall's words) The Mathematical Papers of Isaac New- ton appeared in eight large volumes be- tween 1967 and 1984.

Recent Newtonian research has greatly enlarged our perception of this com- plex and enigmatic genius. He was one of the last great polymaths: theologian, historian, (al)chemist, mathematician, civil servant, public grandee, and much else. Artistic and sensual pleasures were, it seems, denied to him. (Hall even tells us there is no evidence that Newton ever

154 154



Book Reviews

Isaac Newton in 1703, by Charles Jervas. Royal Society portrait (presented by Sir Isaac Newton, 1717).

had a wash or a bath.) Newton's philosophical views were

constantly changing as he sought for ever greater understanding of the work-

ings of nature. His long struggle to rec- oncile the corpuscular and wavelike properties of light was never resolved.

Interpreting and making sense of New- ton's turgid 17th-century prose could indeed be a daunting task. It is inevitable that Hall's erudite expositions must sometimes make heavy demands on the reader. Fortunately he is blessed with a lively and agreeable style of writing,

155



Book Reviews

with a talent for the apt comparison, the

striking metaphor and the vivid phrase. Here, to illustrate these qualities, are a few extracts from the book.

(1) 'The close of the year 1671 was marked by the public appearance of Newton upon the national stage of the

Royal Society of London. It is strange that with Newton and his arch-rival Leibniz this event happened in the same

unexpected and unlikely way: Each of them presented a gadget to the Society. In Leibniz's case it was an arithmetical machine, ... in Newton's, his miniature

reflecting telescope.' (2) 'Of all the experimental work in

those years [1700-1710], that causing most revision of Newton's own natural-

philosophical speculations was carried out by the elder Hauksbee, the virtual founder of a whole new branch of ex-

perimental physics.' In 1705 he demon- strated 'that glass rubbed in vacuo would shine brightly. Before another year had

passed he had inverted the arrangement; an exhausted glass globe rapidly whirled on a spindle and rubbing against the hand produced a brilliant glow. From these luminous beginnings came the

origin of triboelectricity, which grew to so much splendour.' Hauksbee's experi- ments 'had a decisive effect in shifting Newton from the first vacuist position of the first editions of both his great books to the specialised aetherism of their later editions.'

(3) 'There can be no doubt that when Newton felt the electricity from Hauksbee's whirling globe tingling in his fingertips, something snapped in his brain and he underwent a sudden Gestalt switch.... Newton felt himself awakened from the metaphysical nightmare of action at a distance in which he had dwelt for a quarter of a century.'

(4) Here is the unexpected final para- graph of Hall's main text. 'Really, the oddest thing in Newton's life is the fact that the story of the apple, known to everyone, is true. It is as though the

archaeologists at Winchester had found Alfred's payment for the burnt cakes.' Hall cites in evidence the garden conver- sation related by Newton's old friend, William Stukeley, in his Memoirs. The

aged Sir Isaac recalls how 'the notion of

gravitation came into his mind [more than 60 years earlier] ... occasioned by the fall of an apple.'

This handsome volume is one of Blackwell's series of Scientific Bio-

graphies. No price can be found on the dust cover; perhaps the book is to be

regarded as priceless! Be that as it may, in these times of expanding horizons, a new first-class scholarly biography of our 'greatest mind' is very much to be welcomed. Once again, Rupert Hall has put the whole Newtonian community - scholars and camp followers alike -

greatly in his debt.

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voyaging through strange seas of thought, alone

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