Never at Rest: A Biography of Isaac Newton

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Cambridge University Press, Apr 29, 1983 - Biography & Autobiography - 908 pages
This richly detailed 1981 biography captures both the personal life and the scientific career of Isaac Newton, presenting a fully rounded picture of Newton the man, the scientist, the philosopher, the theologian, and the public figure. Professor Westfall treats all aspects of Newton's career, but his account centres on a full description of Newton's achievements in science. Thus the core of the work describes the development of the calculus, the experimentation that altered the direction of the science of optics, and especially the investigations in celestial dynamics that led to the law of universal gravitation.

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Contents

The discovery of a new world
1
A sober silent thinking lad
40
The solitary scholar
66
Resolving problems by motion
105
Anni mirabiles
140
Lucasian professor
176
Publication and crisis
238
Rebellion
281
Revolution
469
The Mint
551
President of the Royal Society
627
The priority dispute
698
Years of decline
781
Bibliographical essay 8 75
875
List of illustrations
885
Index
887

Years of silence
335
Principia
402

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