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.

Interesting history of science and mathematics in the 17th century

I learned a lot about the men who ushered in the modern world. More importantly, I learned about how they developed calculus and the idea of gravity.what a fascinating world!

One of the best books I've ever gained from.

For those who believe science and emotion are God equally. Newton took such care to explain beyond a doubt the movement in the universe.

well written accessible language

I thought I would get bored but the author did a great job setting the scene and explaining the context of the time. Once started I remained engaged until the very end.

The stories are fascinating

Would you consider the audio edition of The Clockwork Universe to be better than the print version?

Yes. The author gives great value to the text and makes me feel like someone is having a conversation with me.

Any additional comments?

Listen to it. You will not regret it.

The men behind the Science

Gives really good details of the Science covered by the "greats" and also a lot of interesting snippets about the personalities. Really explains the background and terms of reference that the 17th century Scientists (and others) were working in.

Loved it

I learned a ton about the history of many topics in math and physics that I have used many times without thinking about their origins before. The stories of these great men's lives were fascinating. The only negative for me was the belabored explanation of how calculus works. I'm not sure how easy it would be for someone to understand if they weren't already familiar with calc, but it got quite repetitive from my perspective. Despite that I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Painful narration

Terrible narrator, starts slowly and then gets interesting in the last quarter. Good for the background to the discoveries and the people rather than the pure science.

Very Interesting narrative and characters

This book was great. I loved learning about the characters in the Royal Society and others. There is quite a bit of attention paid to Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz, which I really liked. It was also nice to learn about the discoveries that were being made and how they affected popular beliefs surrounding God and Science and the nature of the universe.

Additionally, the narrator was great and it was easy to follow and pick up at any time.

Interesting

Such an interesting book. For someone who doesn't get math intuitively this was very interesting to get a glimpse of the minds of these men.

terrific book

Easy to listen to... made Newton understandable. A transition from the middle ages to modern times.

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