Books reviews, current events, and other musings

James Gleick, author of the excellent Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman, examines an even greater genius in Isaac Newton. Gleick bases the biography on original material: Newton’s publications, private notebooks, and correspondence. The book lacks the vitality of Gleick’s earlier work, possibly because less is known about a 17th and 18th century personality. As a former physicist, I was curious to learn how Newton, the son of an illiterate farmer, became one of the most significant scientific minds in history. Gleick fleshes out Newton’s life story – his childhood, education, alchemy research, theology concerns, stewardship of the British Mint, and disputes with Leibniz over the invention of calculus. The book’s highlight was, naturally enough, Newton’s scientific discoveries, specifically the gradual discovery of the laws that became known as Newtonian physics. There was a steady build-up of excitement as Newton worked towards calculus, F=ma, and the proof that a 1/r^2 gravitational attraction led to an elliptical orbit. Isaac Newton is well worth reading for physics geeks, though it’s not clear how much it would appeal to other people.

posted by Julian at 8:15 PM

I recently read a collection of three Oscar Wilde plays, none of which I’ve seen performed. The Importance of Being Earnest was a delightful comedy, full of witty remarks and rejoinders flying back and forth. The storyline, involving men assuming false identities and romantic entanglements, is light but fits together perfectly. Lady Windermere’s Fan is amusing but doesn’t rise to quite the same level. It includes several famous epigrams, such as “A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” Salome is a retelling of the Biblical story in which King Herod’s wife and daughter drive him to kill John the Baptist. The poetic rendering didn’t quite resonate on paper, though it’s probably a lot more powerful on stage and my ignorance of the underlying story detracted from its meaning.

posted by Julian at 11:45 PM