The Dark Side of Isaac Newton: Science’s Greatest Fraud?
This book is not about Newton’s alchemy or his religious beliefs but about his science. Nick Kollestrom is a maths teacher, so, unlike many Newton biographers, he does not spare the science.
Kollestrom is also a myth-buster. He destroys several minor myths, such as the falling apple which inspired the theory of gravity. According to Kollestrom, Newton was not in residence at the family home when he first formulated the theory of gravitation, so if he was inspired by an apple it was not from the tree which the tourists come to see today. Also Newton did not take a year off from his studies in Cambridge because the university was closed because of the plague but because he failed his exams and had to negotiate his return to his college.
More importantly Kollerstrom maintains that Newton did not discover the theory of gravity or calculus but simply developed other people’s theories without acknowledging their contributions. He was certainly a difficult man who engaged in vicious quarrels with his professional rivals.
The author has much that is new to say about Newton and says it very well. However, Newton remains indisputably one of history’s greatest scientists and was not an unlovable man. Although he never married (he was almost certainly homosexual) he was a generous and affectionate uncle to his nieces and their families, as is remembered by their descendants.
