"Presents Newton as a wealthy, ambitious Londoner with international connections, challenging the prevailing view of Newton as a solitary, reclusive genius. A unique narrative structure based on a Hogarth's painting 'The Indian Emperor', incorporating iconographic evidence to identify Newton as a participant in aristocratic metropolitan circles. Relates Newton and his science to Britain's imperial networks and the African slave trade, exposing Britain's greatest scientific hero as a participant in global trading based on slavery"--Publisher's description
Patricia Fara Book order
Patricia Fara is a historian of science whose work illuminates the intricate relationship between art, Enlightenment England, and the contributions of women to scientific discovery. She delves into how visual culture and societal roles have shaped the trajectory of scientific thought. Through her accessible writings and lectures, Fara brings the history of science to life for a broad audience. Based at the University of Cambridge, she explores the dynamic interplay of art and societal forces in the evolution of scientific ideas.







- 2021
- 2020
Erasmus Darwin
- 336 pages
- 12 hours of reading
A tour of the late eighteenth century English Enlightenment in the company of Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles, who (aside from his poetry and other scientific endeavours) was expounding theories of evolution years before the birth of his more famous grandson.
- 2018
A Lab of One's Own
- 352 pages
- 13 hours of reading
2018 marked the centenary not only of the Armistice but also of women gaining the vote. A Lab of One's Own commemorates both anniversaries by exploring how the War gave female scientists, doctors, and engineers unprecedented opportunities to undertake endeavours normally reserved for men.
- 2017
Pandora's Breeches
- 288 pages
- 11 hours of reading
'Had God intended Women merely as a finer sort of cattle, he would not have made them reasonable.' Writing in 1673, Bathsua Makin was one of the first women to insist that girls should receive a scientific education.
- 2017
"When the imperial explorer James Cook returned from his first voyage to Australia, scandal writers mercilessly satirised the amorous exploits of his botanist Joseph Banks, whose trousers were reportedly stolen while he was inside the tent of Queen Oberea of Tahiti. Was the pursuit of scientific truth really what drove Enlightenment science? In Sweden and Britain, both imperial powers, Banks and Carl Linneaus ruled over their own small scientific empires, promoting botanical exploration to justify the exploitation of territories, peoples and natural resources. Regarding native peoples with disdain, these two scientific emperors portrayed the Arctic North and the Pacific Ocean as uncorrupted Edens, free from the shackles of Western sexual mores. Patricia Fara reveals the existence, barely concealed under Banks' and Linnaeus' camouflage of noble Enlightenment, of the altogether more seedy drives to conquer, subdue and deflower in the name of the British Imperial state." -- Provided by publisher.
- 2017
Benjamin Franklin's Enlightenment world of philosophy, spectacle and electricity.
- 2016
Sympathetic Attractions
Magnetic Practices, Beliefs, and Symbolism in Eighteenth-Century England
- 342 pages
- 12 hours of reading
Focusing on the interplay between science and culture, this study delves into how eighteenth-century natural philosophers shaped the understanding of magnetism by integrating navigational expertise. The book highlights the era's fascination with magnetic phenomena, linking them to themes of mystery, attraction, and imperial ambition. Through an analysis of cultural interactions, it reveals the transition towards organized scientific disciplines and the rise of public science, offering a vibrant portrayal of a society in transformation, enriched with illustrations.
- 2010
Science
- 448 pages
- 16 hours of reading
A groundbreaking new history of science, from ancient Babylon right up to the latest hi-tech experiments in genetics and particle physics, illuminating the financial interests, imperial ambitions, and publishing enterprises that have made science the powerful global phenomenon that it is today.
