A review by gobblebook
Newton and the Counterfeiter: The Unknown Detective Career of the World's Greatest Scientist by Thomas Levenson

3.0

Levenson tells the story of Newton's life, with a particular focus on his role as Warden of the Mint, after he reached the zenith of his scientific career. In particular, there was one clever counterfeiter that Newton was determined to catch. Like a lot of popular history books, this one builds up a story, but then doesn't really deliver on its promises - Levenson uses the idea of Newton acting like Sherlock to catch a criminal genius to rope in his readers, but it turns out that the true story is more mundane. The story is still interesting, and I was especially interested in the history of British currency and Newton's role in it. But Newton's actual detective work in tracking down Chaloner isn't really all that exciting. Nonetheless, this was an informative and interesting book, and I would much rather it be less-than-thrilling than full of lies.