Author:John Gribbin
From the bestselling author of Science: A History comes the enthralling story of a revolution that shook the world. Seventeenth-century England was racked by civil war, plague and fire; a world ruled by superstition and ignorance. A series of meetings of 'natural philosophers' in Oxford and London saw the beginning of a new method of thinking based on proof and experiment. John Gribbin's gripping, colourful account of this unparalleled time of discovery explores the impact of the Royal Society, culminating with Isaac Newton's revolutionary description of the universe and Edmund Halley's prediction of the return of a comet in 1759. This compelling book shows the triumph not as the work of one isolated genius, but of a Fellowship.
The Penguin History of Europe series ... is one of contemporary publishing's great projects
—— New StatesmanWith five volumes now out, the Penguin History of Europe series ... is shaping up to be the best general account available, superseding all previous ones
—— EconomistA vibrant look at the life of society beauty Jenny Jerome covering murder, espionage, love affairs and political machinations
—— Daily ExpressA great little book about the British obsession with the climate, it's full of fruitful parcels of meteorological lore.
—— Conde Nast Traveller... The writing possesses an affable charm and Fort has an appealing layman's enthusiasm for the subject.
—— Financial Times MagazineAn entertaining but rigorous antidote to the fast-and-loose-with-the-truth approach.
—— Radio TimesWonderfully engaging...Tinniswood has brought the Verneys to life in robustly vivid style
—— GuardianA wonderful group portrait of an eccentric and ill-starred dynasty. Expertly handling the humorous words and unwise deeds of several generations of Verneys, Adrian Tinniswood breathes life into the turbulent history of an entire century
—— Ross King, author of Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling and Brunelleschi's DomeAdrian Tinniswood's The Verneys takes us on a fascinating grand tour through a world turned upside down. It is an intimate, engaging, and richly rewarding book, showing the seventeenth century in all its splendor and brutality
—— David King, author of When the World Came to Town and Finding AtlantisHow eloquently Mak rails against the alliance of consumerism and bureaucracy! ... He has a great eye for telling detail... Only a powerful, humane and serious mind could give coherence to mass detail which, however arresting piece by piece, would otherwise soon become wearying... as much a journey around Geert Mak's head as it is a journey around Europe
—— GuardianFascinating
—— David V Barrett , Independent