Laughing at gravity: Conversations with Isaac Newton (Barnard new women poets series) - Hardcover

Socolow, Elizabeth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807068047 ISBN 13: 9780807068045

Publisher: Beacon Press, 1988

Synopsis

Poems deal with the life and accomplishments of the British physicist

About this title

Reviews

YA A book aimed at those looking for an alternate view of Newton, this collection of poems centers upon the effect that Newton had on his immediate world. From the point of view of people around him, and from Newton himself, the poems deal with man's struggles and his insights. Clearly a text for those who are the ``Physics for Poets'' type, this would be a fine alternate reference for shedding light on Newton, the man. Socolow has done her research, and injects that experience and knowledge into her poetry. The poems may be viewed as attendant pieces to the most famous physicist's life. It may serve to demystify the man who claimed merely to stand upon the shoulders of giants; it will certainly serve as a secondary source for insight. George F. Hawkins, Episcopal High School, Bellaire
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

It's ironic that Isaac Newton, the enigmatic 17th-century scientific genius, should occasion an autobiographical outpouring of 188 pages of long-lined verse. Socolow exploits allegories in Newton's work: gravity represents "falling bodies"; light waves "cannot resist/ a small caress." "I am a professor of daily life," she admits to Newton, who had none. Although these essay-like poems are irradiated with insights about "the sense of things absent," apostrophizing Newton finally fails to find poetry in physics. Frank Allen, Allentown Coll., Center Valley, Pa.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Publication date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807068047
• ISBN 13: 9780807068045
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 142