“For my money this is Gleick’s best book, and without question the finest short life of science’s most perplexing figure.”

—Graham Farmelo, New Scientist

“Isaac Newton is an elegantly written, insightful work that brings Newton to life and does him justice. Its brevity, which may or may not have been premeditated, seems to have resulted from a rare and relentless insistence on saying solely what can be said confidently and afresh…. Gleick proves to be not only a sound explicator of Newton’s science but also a capable literary stylist, whose understated empathy with his subject lets us almost see through Newton’s eyes.”

—Timothy Ferris, The Los Angeles Times

“For the casual reader with a serious interest in Newton’s life and work, I recommend Gleick’s biography as an excellent place to start. It has three important virtues. It is accurate, it is readable, and it is short.”

—Freeman Dyson, The New York Review of Books

“His admirable new biography is perhaps the most accessible to date. He is an elegant writer, brisk without being shallow, excellent on the essence of the work, and revealing in his account of Newton’s dealings with the times and with the men — admiring, dubious, downright hostile — with whom he condescended to interact.”

—Vincent Boland, Financial Times

“James Gleick, I am pleased to say, makes the most of his extraordinary material, providing us with a deftly crafted vision of the great mathematician as a creator, and victim, of his age. (…) The result is a book that is a perfect antidote to the many vast, bloated scientific biographies that currently flood the market — and also acts a superb starting point for anyone interested in the life of one of the world’s few, undisputed geniuses.”

—Robin McKie, The Observer