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.

Inaccurate Assumptions

Great book, but I was disappointed to hear the author assert a claim that no great mathematics work happened between the Greeks and 17th century Europeans. The Islamic nations were great mathematicians during this time period. Total whitewashing of mathematical history in one fell swoop.

So Sad to Have It End

Where does The Clockwork Universe rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Just got done listening to "A Clockwork Universe", read by Alan Sklar, for the second time. This book is a masterpiece, one I will always treasure and reread. I just bought two more copies from Amazon, one for me, and one for my scientist son. I love Alan Sklar's reading of such a staggeringly well told story. I completely love this work. I have "read" at least 300 audio books and this is solidly in the Top 5.

What did you like best about this story?

The portrait of Isaac Newton is the most astonishing thing I think I have ever read. He was very dysfunctionally male in that he was completely remote and detached from all human emotions. He had no interest in sex, romance, the arts, food, sleep, conversation, friendship, desire to be a father, human contact of any kind, or even recognition. He spent months, years alone with his thoughts, seeking neither praise nor wealth. It could easily have happened that none of his work was ever published without intense pressure by those who recognized his genius. In a sense, he was the only person fit to judge what he had done. Others could only see small pieces of it. In his "Principia Mathematica," he unleashed the vision of a dozen Einsteins, maybe a hundred.

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

No, but he is brilliant. He adds so much to what is already a great work.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Any additional comments?

As one review said, you hated to come to the last line. That's exactly how I felt.

perfect, fascinating and well paced

although it covers an astonishing amount of history it does so in a well thought out and simple manner I thoroughly enjoyed this book

Good general history lesson

If you're not familiar with the history of Newton, the Royal Society and calculus this is a very good place to start. It's a good general history that's very entertaining and non technical.

great brush up on history

Though I was aware of MOST of the details described in this tale-like history of the major contributors to the scientific revolution, I love the flow of this book! I also enjoyed the context of figures and events around and in between the players... I imagine more surrounding details might've convoluted the focus.

I learned something.

This book gave me quite a bit of insight to Newton, his perception on life and religion. Also what environment he lived in and how it shaped him as a man morally and how he applied it to his craft. I'd never know these things prior. In short, YES. I recommend this book.

The story of the birth of the modern world.

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

I haven't read the print version.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Isaac Newton, because he is at once brilliant and insane.

What does Alan Sklar bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Well, for one thing, I can read it while I commute. That's hard to do with a paper book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, it's a book about the history of science.

Any additional comments?

These questions were strangely inappropriate for a history-of-science book. Are they randomly generated? Anyway, listen to this book, it's excellent.

Intriguing look into the men behind the science

I found this book to be quite entertaining. I find the people behind the science and the politics to be very interesting. Sklar's narration fit the tone of the book and kept me engaged through some of the more soap opera parts whilst also making the science aspects interesting. A very good read to see a bit behind the major breakthroughs of the science we take for granted today.

ah! that explains it!

I learned a lot of useful things from this book and was able to understand the scientists and the scientific method much better as a result. Great to understand the basis for the way research is conducted and I am grateful for the explanation throughout of what thinking and knowledge was like before the invention of science through observation and empirical evidence. I never realised and feel so silly for having never thought about why it is that we think the way we do today.

I liked learning about the personalities behind the history of science, great stories and an enhanced ability to contextualise their ideas and add interest to their contributions. I am also better able to remember their laws and contributions as a result of having known their stories.

A terrific and fun history. I wish I had listened to it years ago before tutoring 'world history' and teaching students about enlightenment.

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.