9781422277638

Two men dissect a body covered with Plague marks in this illustration from a medical book about the London Plague. Incense is burning in a nearby bowl to camouflage the stench of the body. More than 100,000 people died during the Great Plague of 1665.

To grasp Isaac Newton’s true greatness, a modern student must try to understand what science was like in the seventeenth century, before Netwon’s discoveries changed it forever. That is one of the hardest, but the most valuable, rewards of traveling through history. Newton did not work on scientific problems only, but also spent a great deal of time studying Biblical prophecy and alchemy . Strange pursuits indeed for one of the founders of modern science! But for Newton, his scientific work was just one aspect of his search for an understanding of God’s great plan as it was revealed in nature and in history.

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