La perruque de Newton [French]

By Jean-Pierre Luminet

The fourth independent Volume in the Sky Builders series: the hidden side of an exceptional scientific genius What hides beneath Issac Newton's heavy, imposing wig? A mathematics professor at Trinity College in Cambridge, Newton undeniably possesses a remarkable mind, equal to that of Copernicus, Kepler, Galil e and Descartes, the other great Sky Builders. He has revealed the universal laws of gravity, explained the bending of light and infinitesimal calculation. He has also published the greatest scientific work of all time. Under that wig is also a head practically bald as a result of many chemical experiments involving mercury and sulphur vapors as well as countless sleepless nights spent rereading scripture in the hope of reinstating natural religion and calculating the date of the Apocalypse. The founder of modern and rational science has spent more time experimenting with alchemy, studying theology and the chronology of ancient religions than practicing biology. Newton's Wig is the astonishing portrait of an extraordinarily complex man who, after a lonely and difficult childhood, became taciturn, angry, vindictive (as a few great scientists such as Hooke and Leibniz who dared contest the paternity of some of his discoveries soon found out ), paranoid and profoundly obsessed, particularly with God. This believer in Reason, venerated by the Lumi res, was also a devoted alchemist, passionate investigator of esoteric phenomena, ruthless director of Treasury, who had counterfeiters hung, and tyrannical president of the Royal Society. He was buried like a king after a long life of eighty five years, never once knowing a woman. The hidden side of an exceptional scientific genius. An astrophysicist, writer and poet, Jean-Pierre Luminet completes his Sky Builders series with this fourth volume, after Le Secret de Copernic (Latt s, 2006), La Discorde c leste (Latt s, 2008), L'Oeil de Galil e (Latt s, 2009). His novel Le baton d'Euclide was translated in several languages

• Format: Paperback
• Language: French
• ISBN: 270962415X
• ISBN13: 9782709624152
• Release Date: August 2019
• Publisher: Editions J.C. Lattes
• Length: 450 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.9"