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Books > History > World history > 1750 to 1900
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The Newton Papers - The Strange and True Odyssey of Isaac Newton's Manuscripts (Paperback)
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The Newton Papers - The Strange and True Odyssey of Isaac Newton's Manuscripts (Paperback)
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When Isaac Newton died in 1727 without a will, he left behind a
wealth of papers that, when examined, gave his followers and his
family a deep sense of unease. Some of what they contained was
wildly heretical and alchemically obsessed, hinting at a Newton
altogether stranger and less palatable than the one enshrined in
Westminster Abbey as the paragon of English rationality. These
manuscripts had the potential to undermine not merely Newton's
reputation, but that of the scientific method he embodied. They
were immediately suppressed as "unfit to be printed," and, aside
from brief, troubling glimpses spread across centuries, the papers
would remain hidden from sight for more than seven generations. In
The Newton Papers, Sarah Dry illuminates the tangled history of
these private writings over the course of nearly three hundred
years, from the long span of Newton's own life into the present
day. The writings, on subjects ranging from secret alchemical
formulas to impassioned rejections of the Holy Trinity, would
eventually come to light as they moved through the hands of
relatives, collectors, and scholars. The story of their
disappearance, dispersal, and rediscovery is populated by a diverse
cast of characters who pursued and possessed the papers, from
economist John Maynard Keynes to controversial Jewish Biblical
scholar Abraham Yahuda. Dry's captivating narrative moves between
these varied personalities, depicting how, as they chased the image
of Newton through the thickets of his various obsessions, these men
became obsessed themselves with the allure of defining the "true"
Newton. Dry skillfully accounts for the ways with which Newton's
pursuers have approached his papers over centuries. Ultimately, The
Newton Papers shows how Newton has been made and re-made throughout
history by those seeking to reconcile the cosmic contradictions of
an extraordinarily complex man.
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