Isaac Newton

This biography for middle-grade, part of Giants of Science series, brings a fascinating figure of a man who during his childhood doesn’t form any deep bonds. It has a reflection later in his life as one of the leading scientist of his time instead of collaborating with other scientist to further the......more

A complete account of Newton's life and his importance to science. In addition to his contributions to physics, Newton also conducted many experiments with light and was an alchemist. He also was a biblical scholar (who could have been excommunicated for his views at the time). It was during a year......more

Although this had a strong basis in the facts of Newton's life--as well as decent explanations of his scientific work and discoveries--I was turned off by the author's relentless disparaging of Newton's character. Not that I want whitewashing, but this book left a bad taste of fault-finding and sens......more

CYBILS finalist from the past. I liked the balance between personality details and professional accomplishments, and how the author comments on the more unpleasant bits of personality but doesn't exactly wallow in them. It's a good way to hook kids -- see what a jerk this guy was? Can you believe it?......more

Better than a standard history book, but kind of a dry read nonetheless. I typically look for historical biographies that are more of a story with a plot that keeps the children's attention while helping them get to know the life of the person. This one did an okay job with this, but was not my favo......more