The Clockwork Universe

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

By: Edward Dolnick

Narrated by: Alan Sklar

Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

The Clockwork Universe is the story of a band of men who lived in a world of dirt and disease but pictured a universe that ran like a perfect machine. A meld of history and science, this book is a group portrait of some of the greatest minds who ever lived as they wrestled with natures most sweeping mysteries. The answers they uncovered still hold the key to how we understand the world.

At the end of the 17th century, an age of religious wars, plague, and the Great Fire of London when most people saw the world as falling apart, these earliest scientists saw a world of perfect order. They declared that, chaotic as it looked, the universe was in fact as intricate and perfectly regulated as a clock. This was the tail end of Shakespeare's century, when the natural and the supernatural still twined around each other. Disease was a punishment ordained by God, astronomy had not yet broken free from astrology, and the sky was filled with omens. It was a time when little was known and everything was new. These brilliant, ambitious, curious men believed in angels, alchemy, and the devil, and they also believed that the universe followed precise, mathematical laws, a contradiction that tormented them and changed the course of history. The Clockwork Universe is the fascinating and compelling story of the bewildered geniuses of the Royal Society, the men who made the modern world.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2011 Edward Dolnick (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

An exceptional understanding

What a wonderful View of the world as it was, and how it shaped the world that is. An astounding perspective that brings a new appreciation for the mind and persona of a remarkable man and his contemporaries that changed it all.

great historical science reference

This is a great read to give you a new perspective of the history of science and math. I really appreciated the insight into what it was like in the 1600's and how these men came to enlighten all.

Bounces around until it develops powerful momentum

This is quite well done. While ostensibly a science history focused around England, and Sir Isaac Newton, Dolnick does a very nice job of setting the tone and place of the events that are discussed. The setup of the culture, the environment and the filth of the times may seem to take a long while, but I think the perspective created makes the science history that much more interesting.

How Newton's laws were discovered

Any additional comments?

Students are taught the laws of physics in school, but this book brings a fresh perspective. This book shares the environment in which the laws we take for granted as truths were first explored and initially ridiculed. It shows the monumental challenge these "geniuses" faced in both uncovering the truths and then getting people to believe them. Overall, a fun, interesting way to review the basic laws of physics and astronomy.

Totally Engaging

I'm not a 'math' person., yet I love physics, and history. This author has proven again, that he can explain clearly, whatever the subject, wrap the explanations in engaging, 'you-are-there' scenes which paint such a lively picture of the social, historical and political events of the time. One gets such wonderfully in depth understanding of the characters, and perhaps what drove them, in their time to ponder and solve all the questions they did . More, please!

The Best of the Best

This audiobook seems perfect. There is a ton of science history with many minute details. The reader is excellent.
This piece should be required reading for all high school science teachers. Anyone with an appreciation of the great scientists of history would greatly enjoy this work.

detailed history of mathematics

If you are interested in history AND mathematics this is a very interesting story. The details and interlocking characters that brought our world into the modern mathematical standards is intriguing and thought provoking.
the world we live in now is based on the theories and understandings that were formed hundreds of years ago. And to think of the progress we are still making to today and how that will be thought of down the road is very curious to me.

ok i know its a good book and want to like it but,

Any additional comments?

I know talent and this has it but I just could not get into it. so sorry. maybe if it included more zombies. just a thought

Fun Survey of the Period

This book is certainly a lot of fun for anyone with a passing interest in intellectual history in general, or the turn of the eighteenth century in England in specific. If you're already pretty versed in the beginnings of the Royal Society or the life of Isaac Newton, you probably won't learn very much, but Dolnick's handling of the subject matter is still engaging and makes it feel like you're listening to a story about some old friends. A great aspect of this book is that it pays particular attention to the interpersonal relationships between the great minds of the era. Newton's feuds could fill a book of their own, but this book handles some of the big ones rather neatly.

I would like to point out, however, that the reading is pretty grating. Alan Sklar certainly has a pleasant speaking voice, but his delivery of the material seems almost condescending at times. At several points in the narration, he actually chuckles while delivering some lines, and the result is that he comes across as holding the primary sources in contempt, whether that is actually true or not. Some of the great discoveries of that time have become practically cliché, but in their original context they deserve more respect than this reading gives them.

Still, this book is an enjoyable experience from start to finish. As someone who has researched this particular period fairly extensively, I didn't really learn much from it, but I enjoyed listening. I recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the Scientific Revolution, or what kind of man Sir Isaac Newton actually was.

Made me appreciate calculus

What did you like best about The Clockwork Universe? What did you like least?

My favorite section was the last half. I love math, but only applied mathematics. I've always struggled with pure math for maths sake, but enjoyed it when it was involved in my other courses like chemistry and biology. The author describing the discovery of calculus and why it mattered I found fascinating.

The first half was a very general overview of the time period this book is centered around. It was interesting, and if someone hasn't already read dozens of general history books about this time period - then I think they'd really get a lot out of it.

Would you recommend The Clockwork Universe to your friends? Why or why not?

I absolutely would and did recommend this book to some of my goodreads friends. This is a great introduction to this time period, and I found I learned a ton in the 2nd part especially.

Have you listened to any of Alan Sklar’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to him before, but I ABSOLUTELY would love to listen to another he has narrated.

The narrator had an absolutely splendid voice. I loved the gravitas he seemed to add to the whole thing.