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Priest of Nature
Cover
AuthorRob Iliffe
LanguageEnglish
Subject
PublisherOxford University Press
Publication date
2017
Publication placeUnited States and United Kingdom
Pages536
ISBN978-0-19-999535-6
OCLC855909939
230.044092
LC ClassB1299.N34
Websiteglobal.oup.com/academic/product/priest-of-nature-9780199995356
All identifiers refer to the hardcover edition, published: 10 July 2017, unless otherwise noted
Portrait of Newton from 1689

Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton is a 2017 book by science historian Rob Iliffe on the religious views of Isaac Newton.

Background

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Rob Iliffe is Professor of the History of Science, Linacre College, University of Oxford.[1] For nearly twenty years leading up to the book's publication, he directed The Newton Project[2] – an online repository of Isaac Newton's manuscripts with editorial commentary.[3] Previously, Iliffe wrote another book on Newton, Newton: A Very Short Introduction, that was published by Oxford University Press in 2007.

Themes

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Newton had a lifelong interest in theology, especially prophecies in the Book of Revelation.[4] The book shows that in one of the Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica's appendices, General Scholium, Newton argued that the "divine mode of being" was unknown, an argument that threatened the traditional theological concept of incarnation.[4] Newton never believed in the Trinity, a heretical view that played a large role in his religious writings being only recently published after nearly 300 years.[3]

Reception

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The book was met with critical acclaim.[5] The book was reviewed by David Brion Davis,[6] Graham Farmelo,[7] Peter Harrison,[3] Eamon Duffy,[8] William Gibson,[9] Floris Cohen,[10] and Guy Stroumsa,[11] along with many others,[12][13][14] including reviews in newspapers and magazines,[15][6][7] literary publications,[4][16][17][18][19][20] academic journals,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] and theological journals.[29][30][31][32] The book's review in Publishers Weekly stated that "Iliffe skillfully chronicles Newton's life" and that he "adroitly illustrates that, from the beginning, Newton displayed deep interests in scriptural interpretation, the history of the early Church, and the idea of prophecy".[4] The review closes by stating: "Iliffe's fascinating study provides an absorbing glimpse into Newton's work and early modern culture".[4] In his review of the book, Peter Harrison stated that the book "presents what is surely the definitive account of Newton's religious world view" and went on to write: "It is a remarkable work of painstaking scholarship, engagingly written, and packed with new insights into the man and his milieu".[3] Among other acclamations, the book made the best sellers list for the Library Journal in October 2017[33] and was listed as one of "The Top 75 Community College Titles" by Choice Reviews in December of the same year.[34]

Release details

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References

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  1. ^ "Professor Robert Iliffe". www.hsmt.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Welcome". www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Harrison 2018
  4. ^ a b c d e "Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton". Publishers Weekly. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  5. ^ "Priest of Nature: The religious worlds of Isaac Newton, by Rob Iliffe". Church Times. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  6. ^ a b Davis 2017
  7. ^ a b Farmelo 2017
  8. ^ Duffy 2018
  9. ^ Gibson 2018
  10. ^ Cohen 2018
  11. ^ Stroumsa 2019
  12. ^ Stanley, Matthew (30 June 2017). "The enlightened empiricist Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of IsaacNewton Rob Iliffe Oxford University Press, 2017. 536 pp". Science. 356 (6345): 1341. doi:10.1126/science.aan4659. PMID 28663462. S2CID 206660119.
  13. ^ Kusukawa, Sachiko (December 2018). "Kusukawa on Iliffe, "Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton"". H-Net.org. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  14. ^ Moore, Sarah. "Iliffe, "Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton" (reviewed by Sarah Moore)". Association Mormon Letters. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  15. ^ Wilson, A. N. (30 September 2017). "Trials and Trinitarians". The Spectator. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  16. ^ Pugl, Dave (July 2017). "Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton". Library Journal. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  17. ^ Moody, Oliver. "The oddness of Isaac Newton – Theology". Times Literary Supplement. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  18. ^ Levitin, Dmitri (September 2017). "Deifying Gravity". The Literary Review. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  19. ^ Greenham, Paul (4 July 2018). "Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton: Iliffe, Rob New York: Oxford University Press 522 pp., $34.95, ISBN 978-0-19-999535-6 Publication Date: September 2017". History: Reviews of New Books. 46 (4): 105–106. doi:10.1080/03612759.2018.1464334. S2CID 150285268.
  20. ^ Riutta, Johannes E. (10 July 2017). "Priest of Nature". The Well-read Naturalist. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  21. ^ Baldwin, Melinda; Cummings, Cynthia; O'Mahony, Jeremiah (August 2019). "New books & media". Physics Today. 72 (8): 58–59. Bibcode:2019PhT....72h..58B. doi:10.1063/PT.3.4275.
  22. ^ Henry, John (2 December 2018). "Rob Iliffe. Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton . xiv + 522 pp., plates, notes, index, bibl. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. £22.99, $34.95 (cloth). ISBN 9780199995356". Isis. 109 (4): 843–844. doi:10.1086/701331. S2CID 151093610.
  23. ^ Karouzos, Marios (2 November 2017). "On our bookshelf". Nature Astronomy. 1 (11): 743. Bibcode:2017NatAs...1..743K. doi:10.1038/s41550-017-0316-9. S2CID 189928879.
  24. ^ Andrews, David L. (2 October 2018). "Priest of nature: the religious worlds of Isaac Newton". Contemporary Physics. 59 (4): 415–416. Bibcode:2018ConPh..59..415A. doi:10.1080/00107514.2018.1529060. S2CID 126312091.
  25. ^ Lucci, Diego (April 2020). "Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton. By Rob Iliffe. Oxford University Press. 2017. xii + 522pp". History. 105 (365): 333–336. doi:10.1111/1468-229X.12947. S2CID 216405747.
  26. ^ Giudice, Franco (July 2020). "The devout but unorthodox Isaac Newton: Rob Iliffe: Priest of nature: The religious worlds of Isaac Newton. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017, 522pp, $34.95". Metascience. 29 (2): 241–243. doi:10.1007/s11016-020-00524-0. S2CID 254791021.
  27. ^ Jalobeanu, Dana (2017). "Godly Scholar: The Making Of Isaac Newton". Societate Si Politica. XI (2): 177–184. ProQuest 2050575140.
  28. ^ Toribio, Pablo (30 December 2019). "Iliffe, Rob. Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2017, XI + 522 pp. ISBN: 978-0-19-999535-6". Asclepio (in Spanish). 71 (2): 286.
  29. ^ Madigan, Patrick (January 2019). "Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton. By Rob Iliffe. Pp. xi, 522, Oxford University Press, 2017,". The Heythrop Journal. 60 (1): 124–125. doi:10.1111/heyj.13082. S2CID 171838275.
  30. ^ Richter, Adam D. (October 2020). "Priest of nature. The religious worlds of Isaac Newton. By Rob Iliffe. Pp. xii + 522 incl. 20 colour plates. Oxford–New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. (paper). 978 0 19 093159 9". The Journal of Ecclesiastical History. 71 (4): 870–872. doi:10.1017/S0022046920001074. S2CID 229023073.
  31. ^ Shea, William R. (22 June 2019). "Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton". Fides et Historia. 51 (2): 176–179. Bibcode:2018ConPh..59..415A. doi:10.1080/00107514.2018.1529060. S2CID 126312091. Gale A611548392.
  32. ^ Recous, Noémie (10 October 2018). "Rob Iliffe, Priest of Nature. The religious worlds of Isaac Newton". Chrétiens et sociétés (25): 228–232. doi:10.4000/chretienssocietes.4677. S2CID 195398553.
  33. ^ "Philosophy, October 2017 | Best Sellers". Library Journal. October 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  34. ^ "The Top 75 Community College Titles: December 2017 Edition". Choice Reviews. Retrieved 10 December 2020.

Further reading

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