Isaac Newton

One of a series of books on leading Christian figures, Christian Encounters: Isaac Newton discusses the philosophy, life and times of this eminent inventor, astronomer, physicist, and philosopher. In addition to exploring Newton’s extensive writings on faith, he also shows how Newton used his grasp on theology to explain the scientific world. Stokes includes fairly extensive quotes from Newton’s leading biographers, William Stukeley and Frank Manuel, as well as excerpts from the philosopher’s own writing. Of particular interest to me, as a retired librarian, was Stokes’ description of the importance of Newton’s notebooks, which he kept throughout his life, and which revealed “an almost obsessive organizing tendency” (nowadays such a tendency might, quite likely, be regarded as leanings towards OCD). Starting with a lively description of Newton’s childhood and background, Stokes goes on to explain how he narrowly escaped being forced to follow in his father’s footsteps as a gentleman farmer. Instead, albeit grudgingly, he was allowed to take up more academic pursuits at Trinity College in Cambridge. Stokes disputes the claims made by “Freudians and other sensationalists” that sexual