Isaac the Alchemist: Secrets of Isaac Newton, Reveal'd

by Mary Losure

Overview

A surprising true story of Isaac Newton’s boyhood suggests an intellectual development owing as much to magic as science.

Before Isaac Newton became the father of physics, an accomplished mathematician, or a leader of the scientific revolution, he was a boy living in an apothecary’s house, observing and experimenting, recording his observations of the world in a tiny notebook. As a young genius living in a time before science as we know it existed, Isaac studied the few books he could get his hands on, built handmade machines, and experimented with alchemy—a process of chemical reactions that seemed, at the time, to be magical. Mary Losure’s riveting narrative nonfiction account of Isaac’s early life traces his development as a thinker from his childhood, in friendly prose that will capture the attention of today’s budding scientists—as if by magic. Back matter includes an afterword, an author’s note, source notes, a bibliography, and an index.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763670634
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	02/01/2017
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	1,134,021
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	1010L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Mary Losure, author of The Fairy Ring and Wild Boy, has worked as a reporter for Minnesota Public Radio and a contributor to National Public Radio. She lives in Minnesota.

Table of Contents

Prologue x

Chapter 1 The Apothecary's House 1

Chapter 2 Book of Mysteries 9

Chapter 3 Stars 15

Chapter 4 School 21

Chapter 5 Siege Weapons 25

Chapter 6 An Inclination for Mechanics 31

Chapter 7 Chymistry 39

Chapter 8 Triumph and Recreation 47

Chapter 9 Hemlock, Henbane, Mandrake Root 53

Chapter 10 What Good Is Such a Bookish Boy? 59

Chapter 11 Truth Is My Greater Friend 65

Chapter 12 Astrology … to Mathematics … to the Ghosts of Light 71

Chapter 13 The Comet 77

Chapter 14 Year of Wonders 85

Chapter 15 Isaac's Alchemy Begins 93

Chapter 16 Enter the Royal Society 101

Chapter 17 Isaac the Alchemist 109

Chapter 18 Transformations 117

Afterwords 129

Isaac's Notebooks 130

Chymistry Demystified {at Least Somewhat} 134

Stinks, Bangs & More Chymical Secrets 137

Acknowledgments 143

Source Notes 144

Bibliography 154

Image Credits 159

Index 161

Editorial Reviews

12/05/2016
In this charming biography of Isaac Newton (1642–1727), Losure (Wild Boy) posits that “this last sorcerer—this greatest of all alchemists—was the same man who banished magic from the scientific world.” Portrayed as an uncommonly inquisitive, albeit reclusive, thinker with a secret addiction to alchemy (not an unusual preoccupation in a period when the borders between science and magic were uncertain), Newton may have written as many as a million words regarding alchemy, papers he kept while destroying many related to his revolutionary work in other fields: mathematics, optics, and what is now called physics. Interspersing engrossing chapters about alchemy (but largely ignoring the last third of Newton’s life), Losure uses a light touch to trace his childhood endeavors, his rise from student to professor at Cambridge’s Trinity College, his prickly relationship with other scientists in the Royal Society (Newton became a member in 1672), and the publication of his masterpiece, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, in 1687. Period images and afterwords with curiosity-spiking headings such as “Stinks, Bangs & More Chymical Secrets” bring additional depth and interest to this study of Newton’s surprising pursuits. Ages 10–up. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 12/01/2016
Gr 6–8—Losure brings a world-renowned scientist to life. Isaac Newton's story, from his tough formative years through the end of his life, is ably told and peppered with a mix of Old English and scientific terms. Fascinating details, such as experiments with mercury that involved him tasting the poisonous element, humanize him and will keep reader interest high. Losure adeptly presents the complex subjects of chemistry, math, and physics, along with alchemy-related recipes, by breaking up the narrative with engrossing images from Newton's published and private works and other books that he used or referred to in his research. The back matter includes excerpts from Newton's journals and other contemporaneous texts and an author's note that explains how Losure researched and used these materials—an excellent addition to reinforce lessons on how to find and use primary sources. VERDICT Losure has written a volume that both informs and excites. Highly recommended for middle school science biography sections.—Hilary Writt, Sullivan University, Lexington, KY

School Library Journal

★ 2016-10-26
The last of the magicians: Sir Isaac Newton.In the middle of the 17th century, in a Puritan England full of mystery and magic, Newton grew up over an apothecary shop, studied alchemy and the world around him, went to Cambridge, taught himself mathematics, and deduced the laws of motion that underlie our understanding of the physical world. Losure has created a compellingly readable biography of the father of modern physics and "greatest alchemist who ever lived," starting, appropriately for her audience, with his lonely childhood. She pieces together bits of information from his notebooks, from his biographers, old and new, and from social history to create a plausible character and bring readers into his world. Her Newton is bookish and curious about the world around him, mostly self-taught, reclusive and secretive about his discoveries—not only his efforts to create a "philosopher's stone," but also his observations about light (after they were scorned by another scientist), his invention of calculus, and his laws of motion. Much about Newton's life has to be conjecture, but the author adds details from history and from her understanding of human behavior that make this splendid story both convincing and accessible to her readers. Illustrations, engravings from the time and pages from his notes, and interesting afterwords add to the appeal. Narrative nonfiction at its best and most convincing. (acknowledgements, source notes, bibliography, index not seen) (Nonfiction. 10-15)

Kirkus Reviews

Much about Newton's life has to be conjecture, but the author adds details from history and from her understanding of human behavior that make this splendid story both convincing and accessible to her readers. Illustrations, engravings from the time and pages from his notes, and interesting afterwords add to the appeal. Narrative nonfiction at its best and most convincing.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Losure adeptly presents the complex subjects of chemistry, math, and physics, along with alchemy-related recipes...an excellent addition to reinforce lessons on how to find and use primary sources. Losure has written a volume that both informs and excites. Highly recommended for middle school science biography sections.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

Perhaps even more impressive than her re-creation of Newton’s world, however, is her re-creation of the man himself—or rather, the boy who became the man—without embellishing the historical record with speculation and conjecture. Thus, the reader is left with the bare facts of Newton’s life—his difficult and troubled childhood, his prodigious talent at Cambridge, his prickly and reclusive nature, and his famous Laws of Motion—but more importantly, Losure has communicated his very essence, recalling Albert Einstein’s assertion that “imagination is more important than knowledge.”
—Horn Book (starred review)

In this charming biography of Isaac Newton (1642–1727), Losure (Wild Boy) posits that “this last sorcerer—this greatest of all alchemists—was the same man who banished magic from the scientific world.” ... Period images and afterwords with curiosity-spiking headings such as “Stinks, Bangs & More Chymical Secrets” bring additional depth and interest to this study of Newton’s surprising pursuits.
—Publishers Weekly

Losure’s treatment of those investigations is no arcane intellectual exercise but a biography that, in a manner similar to Kathleen Krull’s lively Isaac Newton (BCCB 5/06), delights in her subject’s curmudgeonly quirks and intellectual prowess...Losure’s “Most Amazing Addendum” offers excerpts from period notebooks and writings that readers won’t want to miss, as well as the expected citations, sources, and index.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Concise and direct, this biography of Isaac Newton makes optimal use of primary sources...A useful book on all counts.
—School Library Connection

Mary Losure dilates on [the] private quirks of the future mathematician and physicist in ‘Isaac the Alchemist,' a highly enjoyable work of narrative nonfiction for 9- to 15-year-olds.
—The Wall Street Journal

Mary Losure brings a poet's touch to this wondrous biography for children of the great scientist with its fascinating focus on his lonely childhood.
—Buffalo News

Losure writes with a lively enthusiasm and with admirable clarity, bringing to life a picture of a lonely, prickly boy who spent his life thinking about difficult questions seemingly only to satisfy his own drive to understand.
—The Booklist Reader

He would also (by following his own odd and lonely path) become one of the greatest scientists who ever lived.” Illustrated with engravings and pages from Newton’s notebooks and published works, Losure’s narrative account of Isaac Newton’s life and work supports these statements in an accessible and engaging fashion.
—Literacy Daily

This intimate portrait is a fascinating look at how science slowly but surely banished magic.
—Plain Dealer

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