Out of the Shadow of a Giant: How Newton Stood on the Shoulders of Hooke and Halley

Shortlisted for the BSHS Hughes Prize What if Isaac Newton had never lived? Robert Hooke and Edmond Halley, whose place in history has been overshadowed by the giant figure of Newton, were pioneering scientists within their own right, and instrumental in establishing the Royal Society. Whilst Newton is widely regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time, and the father of the English scientific revolution, John and Mary Gribbin uncover the fascinating story of Robert Hooke and Edmond Halley, whose scientific achievements neatly embrace the hundred years or so during which science as we know it became established in Britain. They argue persuasively that even without Newton science in Britain would have made a great leap forward in the second half of the seventeenth century, headed by two extraordinary men, Hooke and Halley. Hooke and Halley, the best minds of the 17th century, were the torchbearers of modern science in Europe. Their contributions, though overshadowed, were instrumental in shaping the scientific landscape as we know it today. For fans of Richard Phillips Feynman (The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. I), Carlo Rovelli (Helgoland), Jeff Forshaw (Quantum Chromodynamics and the Pomeron), Jared M. Diamond (The World Until Yesterday), and Graham Farmelo (Churchill's Bomb).