Isaac The Alchemist: Secrets of Isaac Newton, Reveal’d
By Mary Losure
176 pages – ages 9+
Published by Candlewick on February 1, 2017
Synopsis From the Publisher- 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.
What I Thought- This was a neat nonfiction book. It is an in-depth look at Sir Isaac Newton’s youth and beginnings as his famous physicist/mathematician. Some of the text is challenging to read, usually being copied directly from Newton’s notebook or a book that he learned from. It makes it a great choice for young advanced readers. Losure does a good job of explaining what the text means. There are illustrations and pictures of real paintings, books, and journal entries – adding to the text. I especially enjoyed these additions. Losure has written a fascinating nonfiction novel. I like how it says that in the time “magic” was considered science, because they knew so little of the world, so Newton did magical experiments. That added a bit of flavor to the story. This is a neat biography of a time in Newton’s life that we don’t know a lot about. I really liked this book, and would recommend it to history buffs and science lovers.
I give this book five out of five bookworms!
Categories: Age 9+