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paul_gallagher's review against another edition
3.0
I must say I was left a little disappointed after the initial excitement when I first picked up "Newton and the Counterfeiter".
Educational - yes. Levenson has certainly done his research on this little know aspect of Newton's career. Indeed, the book provides a very good biography covering the whole of his life.
Enjoyable - this is where I felt let down, for a number of reasons I think:
(a) the first half of the book is a prelude to Newton's time at the Mint. All very good background, but for a book titled "Newton and the Conterfeiter" I found myself in extended suspension waiting for the "real" story to begin.
(b) Levenson's style is very correct (academically). A stream of facts and quotes woven together very carefully to build a solid chronology. It seems Levenson takes pains to avoid any possibility that he could be accused of exaggeration, hyperbole or drawing unfounded conclusions or insights. This can be a real problem given the very thin historical evidence that remains in relation to many aspects of the story (he annoyingly draws "no conclusion" in a number of places). As an authoritative reference this works well, but unfortunately it also results in a style that I personally found hard to digest: it didn't stimulate my imagination or draw me in emotionally. All the protagnosits remain just dry characters from history.
Well, I do know much more about Newton's life after reading the book, but it turned out not to be what I expected. However, there is fertile ground here for someone to write a ripping "historical fiction" based around these events. I think that is the book I would prefer...
Educational - yes. Levenson has certainly done his research on this little know aspect of Newton's career. Indeed, the book provides a very good biography covering the whole of his life.
Enjoyable - this is where I felt let down, for a number of reasons I think:
(a) the first half of the book is a prelude to Newton's time at the Mint. All very good background, but for a book titled "Newton and the Conterfeiter" I found myself in extended suspension waiting for the "real" story to begin.
(b) Levenson's style is very correct (academically). A stream of facts and quotes woven together very carefully to build a solid chronology. It seems Levenson takes pains to avoid any possibility that he could be accused of exaggeration, hyperbole or drawing unfounded conclusions or insights. This can be a real problem given the very thin historical evidence that remains in relation to many aspects of the story (he annoyingly draws "no conclusion" in a number of places). As an authoritative reference this works well, but unfortunately it also results in a style that I personally found hard to digest: it didn't stimulate my imagination or draw me in emotionally. All the protagnosits remain just dry characters from history.
Well, I do know much more about Newton's life after reading the book, but it turned out not to be what I expected. However, there is fertile ground here for someone to write a ripping "historical fiction" based around these events. I think that is the book I would prefer...
timinbc's review against another edition
4.0
This is a good complement to what you already knew about Newton.
I was waiting for further developments in the story, and was surprised when the main body of the book ended at page 247 of 318. The rest of the book has acknowledgements, notes, bibliography and an index. The author wants us to know that he did a lot of work on this!
Levenson is deft about leading us to the conclusion that Chaloner was good, but not nearly as good as he thought he was. Unfortunately the packaging of this led me to expect Chaloner to be a more worthy opponent, more of a Moriarty. This story is almost a police procedural.
I was also a tad surprised to learn that stick-to-principles Newton was capable of being, er, results-oriented when necessary.
If you liked this book, note that Newton is highly visible in Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle trilogy.
I was waiting for further developments in the story, and was surprised when the main body of the book ended at page 247 of 318. The rest of the book has acknowledgements, notes, bibliography and an index. The author wants us to know that he did a lot of work on this!
Levenson is deft about leading us to the conclusion that Chaloner was good, but not nearly as good as he thought he was. Unfortunately the packaging of this led me to expect Chaloner to be a more worthy opponent, more of a Moriarty. This story is almost a police procedural.
I was also a tad surprised to learn that stick-to-principles Newton was capable of being, er, results-oriented when necessary.
If you liked this book, note that Newton is highly visible in Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle trilogy.
kris_tea516's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
This was a very interesting book & I did enjoy it. I’m only giving it 3 stars because there were some dry portions that I zoned out during & wasn’t interested in running it back to hear what I missed. Regardless, Newton was a fascinating man who did way more in his life than inventing calculus & developing the theory of gravity. He was a much more complex guy than just being the scientist most of us learn about him.
leafdmcg's review against another edition
4.0
Nicely done curio of a book. The premise is fascinating--Isaac Newton as bureaucrat and sleuth--and Levenson handles it adroitly. No overreaching, and just the right amount of general history to give a casual reader the necessary context.
eroston's review against another edition
This is pretty much a science-writer's dream book, an unacknowledged episode from the life of Newton that reads like a novel. Tom did a spectacular job winding voluminous research into a narrative that really cooks. A stunning achievement.
shalot's review against another edition
4.0
This was a great story on the history of currency, banking and the Royal Mint in Newton's lifetime. However, the beginning of the book leaned heavily on telling Newton's early biography and scientific career. I feel like that could have been a much smaller section since the title of the book has any reader interested more in how Newton chased down Counterfeiters. However, still a very fascinating read.
ejdecoster's review against another edition
3.0
Should be a 3.5. I enjoyed it, and it was a quick read, but not quite as much of a page-turner as I'd hoped.