A"New York Times"-bestselling author presents the true story of a pivotal moment in modern history when a group of strange, tormented geniuses--Isaac Newton chief among them--invented science and remade our understanding of the world.

Donated by John M. McCaffrey.

London, 1660 -- Satan's claws -- The end of the world -- "When spotted death ran arm'd through every street" -- Melancholy streets -- Fire -- God at His drawing table -- The idea that unlocked the world -- Euclid and unicorns -- The boys' club -- To the barricades! -- Dogs and rascals -- A dose of poison -- Of mites and men -- A play without an audience -- All in pieces -- Never seen until this moment -- Flies as big as a lamb -- From earthworms to angels -- The parade of the horribles -- "Shuddering before the beautiful" -- Patterns made with ideas -- God's strange cryptography -- The secret plan -- Tears of joy -- Walrus with a golden nose -- Cracking the cosmic safe -- The view from the crow's nest -- Sputnik in orbit, 1687 -- Hidden in plain sight -- Two rocks and a rope -- A fly on the wall -- "Euclid alone has looked on beauty bare" -- Here be monsters! -- Barricaded against the beast -- Out of the whirlpool -- All men are created equal -- The miracle years -- All mystery banished -- Talking dogs and unsuspected powers -- The world in close-up -- When the cable snaps -- The best of all possible feuds -- Battle's end -- The apple and the moon -- A visit to Cambridge -- Newton bears down -- Trouble with Mr. Hooke -- The system of the world -- Only three people -- Just crazy enough -- In search of God.