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.

Inspiring content

the content of this book was really inspiring. I found the reading performance smooth. I was able to concentrate on the content and never noticed any irritations with the reading. It made me want to study calculus. The content was pretty heady, but offered in an interesting story telling manner. I found it interesting to notice that the greatest minds of history had a deep belief in a judeo christian god. The author seems to discount this as an hinderance, however the greatest geniuses in science, music and politics seem to have emerged from these cultures. Was it simply the God they worshiped or the lifestyle of this society that gave us so many great thinkers.

Worthy of more stars!

If five is the highest rating for a book, this on deserves 10! The last 15 minutes of the book makes the entire book even better.

Great for a Mathematician

The book dives deep into the ideas behind and surrounding the greatest minds of the 17th century. Unless you do calc during the reading of this book, it may make your head spin.
Good Luck.

Fabulous history of early science

This is a great story with good detail. As a professor of electromagnetics and electrical engineering this history is extremely interesting and let's me tell the stories of these critical concepts!
I have listened to the book many times.

A bit flat

I think I expected this to be more dynamic. It was alright, but not one that I would listen to on repeat. A bit flat.

Darn it, the whole body vacuum chamber broke

Think: cub scouts with too much money and no supervision. That’s what the scientists of the Royal Society were. I'm surprised so many of these guys survived their experiments.
And example of this: After learning how to create a vacuum chamber, they created a bigger one and literally tried to test it with a human inside. Thankfully the seal failed.
Perhaps only survivors lived long enough to become famous.

Downright exciting

This a fascinating history of science book, but much more. The groundwork leading to Newton's breathtaking achievements or delightfully depicted (for example Kepler's work - but most of what he produced was nonsense!) And why were the dark ages so dark for so long!
It has been decades since college, but having listened to this I have a deeper understanding of what I was trying to learn then in Physics, Calculus and Astronomy. The story quickly moves along, the narration is first rate. I plan on listening to more of this author's work.

Lots of detail, but slow moving

The author wastes a lot of space trashing religious belief in Newton's time. Frustrating defect. Not enough science for me.

Interesting facts but loose ending

The book is full of historical events depicting the most important mathematical and physical discoveries giving context and putting the reader into the way of thinking of the time and setting the context in where those discoveries were made.

The end though seems to come too quickly and not provide closure of the narrative. Maybe the ending could be improved in a new revision.

Splendid historical description

Really enjoyed the description of the society in which the first human modern scientists lived.
The old world ended by the mind of man through the intellect of geniuses.