The Clockwork Universe Reviews
“Delightful”
– Robert Krulwich, NPR
“I’ve read a lot of science books and this is by far one of the best I’ve ever read. It’s fascinating, clear, even funny. And it takes readers through one of the most astonishing eras in science.”
– Barbara Strauch, science editor, The New York Times
“Dolnick’s book is lively and the characters are vivid … the author has an advanced degree in math and explains it with clarity and fizz.”
– The New York Times
“From the opening chapter, Mr Dolnick plunges the reader down a rabbit hole into the filth, tumult, and poverty of Restoration London … a free-for-all of ideas in a character-rich historical narrative …. memorable…. “
– The Wall Street Journal
“At once a biography of men such as Gottfried Liebniz, Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler, a layman’s description of the significance of their work, and an evocative piece of cultural history.”
– The Economist
“Dolnick is an eloquent writer who performs literary CPR on these dusty old marble busts from the museum of science and in the process illuminates one of the darkest centuries in prismatic light, an accomplishment Newton would have appreciated.”
– The San Antonio Express-News
“The Clockwork Universe is … so well and entertainingly written and so filled with interesting material that it is one of those rare volumes the reader regrets reaching the end of. … Dolnick has to cover an extraordinary amount of of ground here and he does so with remarkable ease, bringing the men, the reasoning, the science, and the intellectual world they lived in to brilliant life.”
– Commentary
” … The Clockwork Universe is delightful … [These geniuses] believed that simple, elegant laws drove the universe and that God had planted secret clues about the Apocalypse in the Bible. Dolnick strikes a remarkable balance in portraying such ideas. We get to chuckle at plenty of batty theories, but we sympathize with Society members, too—we understand their motivations, and we get to see how they grew intellectually through debate and experimentation.”
– The American Scholar
” … fascinating … “
– New Scientist
“Colorful, entertainingly written, and nicely paced”
– Kirkus Reviews
” … entertaining …. short, punchy chapters use simple language to explain complex ideas … Dolnick’s history begins to soar … “
– Associated Press
“Dolnick offers penetrating portraits of the geniuses of the day, many of them idiosyncratic in the extreme… An informative read.”
– Publisher’s Weekly
“An engrossing read”
– Library Journal
“The Clockwork Universe is a perfect blending of history, science, and religion—completely accessible for non-specialists and a thoroughly engrossing read for all.”
– Lifetime Reading Plan