Sir Isaac Newton - criminal investigator

Earlier today I posted news about the Royal Society Prize for Science Books. The Royal Society is the national academy of science of the UK and the Commonwealth. Founded in 1660, the Royal Society counts many of the illustrious founders of modern science among its past fellows and members (read more). Sir Isaac Newton was one of the early presidents.

Currently I am reading an exceedingly fascinating book about Sir Isaac Newton. This work of nonfiction, Newton and the Counterfeiter : the unknown detective career of the world's greatest scientist by Thomas Levenson, reads easily, like fiction or like the best of true crime stories. Find this book in our catalog

In 1695, Isaac Newton, having lived reclusively in Cambridge for 30 years moved to London to take up the post of Warden of His Majesty’s Mint. He wanted a change of scene, but to move from Cambridge he needed some means of support other than his professorship: which perhaps explains why he took up this unlikely post. Newton could heve treated his post as a mere sinecure and left the duties of his office to lesser and ineffectual civil servants; however, during his three years in office he was notably successful in stamping out counterfeiting (pun intended!). This was vital to the economy of the time: money in the modern sense was just coming into being, but the official coinage was almost completely compromised by counterfeits. Newton brought all his genius to bear on the problem, using the new methods of science he had introduced to the world to detect, track down, prosecute, and convict many individual criminals from his office in the Tower. His chief adversary was a genius of a diferent kind: William Chaloner a brilliant counterfeiter and crime lord. In the courts and streets of London the two played out an epic game of cat and mouse.

There is much to enjoy: the readable, clear, yet technically well-informed style of the author and the extremely detailed, yet never boring description of the work of Newton and fellow natural philosophers; the rich details of society at all levels; the lively depiction of the underworld of London; the battle of the protagonists.

If you like historical true crime you will probably like:

The suspicions of Mr. Whicher : a shocking murder and the undoing of a great Victorian detective by Kate Summerscale.

If you like science writing that reads like fiction:

Longitude : the true story of a lone genius who solved the greatest scientific problem of his time by Dava Sobel.

Top Science Writing available in HCPL

The shortlist for the US$16,503 Royal Society Prize for Science Books has just been reported. Sir Tim Hunt, chair of the panel of judges, was reported in The Guardian as saying, "There's clearly a large audience for books that explain science clearly and gracefully, and no shortage of authors."

I am happy to announce that on checking the catalog I found that Harford County Public Library has all five of the shortlist of this prestigeous British award that are available from US publishers: (click on the titles to follow the links to our catalog)
* What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life by Avery Gilbert

* The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes

* Decoding the Heavens: Solving the Mystery of the World's First Computer by Jo Marchant

* The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow

* Your Inner Fish: The Amazing Discovery of Our 375-million-year-old Ancestor by Neil Shubin