Coffee with Isaac Newton

Book Report

                The most illustrious figures of the past would have much to tell us if only we could borrow an hour or so of their time. This book enables us to do that. It contains a fictional dialogue based on biographical facts. A relaxed chat with Isaac Newton turns into a mind-expanding tour of the principles of modern science in the illuminating company of the man who define them, and we can even ask questions!

                Isaac Newton’s influence on our world is immense. He formulated the theory of gravity, devised a radically new theory of light and created a calculus that would revolutionize mathematics. His theory of matter in motion sparked the Industrial Revolution. But there was far more to Newton even than these great discoveries. In the past, I know nothing about his childhood and his way of thinking. By reading this book, I deeply explored the scientific world of Newton and his attitudes in different areas. This biography is not like normal biographies, it is dramatized, and that is what I like most about it. I do not feel like reading, but having a cup of coffee with Newton using a time machine. The book has a clear structure with different sub-headings. The questions asked are exactly what I want to know about him, so it satisfied my curiosity.

                There is a lot for us to learn from Isaac Newton. What made him so successful was his passion and enthusiasm in searching new knowledge. He spent so much time on understanding and investigating science in different aspects like mathematics, alchemy and even the lost knowledge of the Ancients, the teaching of the Babylonians and the ancient Egyptians. In keeping with his insistence that all knowledge is valuable and that no areas should remain dark, he spent many years learning as much as possible about the ancient arts. He considered the wisdom of the Ancients as one of the most essential things that led him to the law of universal gravitation. To me, it is really impressive that Newton found connection between science and the Bible. Instead of simply seeing the rays of light radiating outward from the fired at the centre of the Temple, he imagined them as a force attracting the disciples toward the centre. Now the parallels between the solar system and the Temple are apparent. The disciples represent the planets, and the temple fire represents the Sun. Combined with the action of forces he had observed in the crucible and his mathematical rules, this image gave him the idea that there was an invisible force that acted between all objects and that its power diminished as the objects moved further apart.

                Besides, Newton didn’t care other people views on him. There is nothing that can stop him from absorbing knowledge. The best example is that Newton conducted a lot of risky experiments on alchemy. Alchemy was not only illegal and punishable by death; if any of his many enemies in the academic world had gleaned the merest fraction of his work as an alchemist he would have been ruined. Also, he nearly blinded himself and could not see properly for days after he stared at the Sun for too long trying to discern coloured rings caused by the glare. Newton even placed the tip of a fine dagger between the back of his eyeball and the bone of his eye socket and moved it around, trying to see how the curvature of the eye affected the appearance of an object.