Isaac the Alchemist: Secrets of Isaac Newton, Revealed

Reviewed by: Kris Zuidema - retired school librarian, Standish, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: June 11, 2017

Review

This well written biography explains what life was like for Isaac Newton growing up in a time when magic and science blurred. He was born in 1642. He spent most of his childhood away from his family. As a young boy he lived in an attic above an apothecary's shop. He was fascinated with alchemy, the belief that ordinary metals could be turned into gold. He wanted to know how the world worked. He studied the stars and mathematics. Readers will be quickly drawn into this engaging narrative about one of the world's greatest scientists. His laws of motion changed how people looked to mathematics for explanations, not magic. The book has an attractive layout with numerous black and white illustrations including some pages from Newton's notebooks. The author used primary sources in this well research book which includes source notes, a bibliography, image credits, index, etc. I highly recommend this book for middle school library collections.

Overall Book Score: excellent