Newton and the Counterfeiter
The Unknown Detective Career of the World's Greatest Scientist
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Narrated by:
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Kevin Pariseau
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By:
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Thomas Levenson
About this listen
In 1695, Isaac Newton, already renowned as the greatest mind of his age, made a surprising career change. He left quiet Cambridge, where he had lived for 30 years and made his earth-shattering discoveries, and moved to London to take up the post of Warden of His Majestys Mint.
Newton was preceded to the city by a genius of another kind, the budding criminal William Chaloner. Thanks to his preternatural skills as a counterfeiter, Chaloner was rapidly rising in London's highly competitive underworld, at a time when organized law enforcement was all but unknown and money in the modern sense was just coming into being. Then he crossed paths with the formidable new warden.
In the courts and streets of London, and amid the tremors of a world being transformed by the ideas Newton himself had set in motion, the chase was on. This astonishing tale of Isaac Newton's journey from Cambridge's ivory tower to London's underworld will appeal to fans of The Professor and the Madman.
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During the worst smallpox epidemic in Boston history, Mather convinced Doctor Boylston to try a procedure that he believed would prevent death - by making an incision in the arm of a healthy person and implanting it with smallpox. "Inoculation" led to vaccination, one of the most profound medical discoveries in history.
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Glad that's done
- By GB on 04-21-16
By: Stephen Coss
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The Year of Lear
- Shakespeare in 1606
- By: James Shapiro
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In the years leading up to 1606, since the death of Queen Elizabeth and the arrival in England of her successor, King James of Scotland, Shakespeare's great productivity had ebbed, and it may have seemed to some that his prolific genius was a thing of the past. But that year, at age 42, he found his footing again, finishing a play he had begun the previous autumn - King Lear - then writing two other great tragedies, Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra.
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Detailed and satisfying
- By Tad Davis on 02-24-16
By: James Shapiro
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Meet You in Hell
- Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership that Transformed America
- By: Les Standiford
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is history that reads like fiction: the riveting story of two founding fathers of American industry, Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick, and the bloody steelworkers' strike that transformed their fabled partnership into a furious rivalry. Author Les Standiford begins at the bitter end, when the dying Carnegie proposes a final meeting after two decades of separation. Frick's reply: "Tell him that I'll meet him in hell."
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an extended journalistic tour
- By D. Littman on 06-08-05
By: Les Standiford
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How to Ruin a Queen
- Marie Antoinette and the Diamond Necklace Affair
- By: Jonathan Beckman
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1785, a sensational trial began in Paris that would divide the country and captivate Europe. A leading Catholic cardinal and scion of one of the most distinguished families in France stood accused of forging the queen's signature to obtain the most expensive piece of jewelry in Europe: a 2,800-carat diamond necklace. Where were the diamonds? Was the cardinal innocent? Was, for that matter, the queen?
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A History Buff's Guilty Pleasure
- By Kathy on 12-31-14
By: Jonathan Beckman
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The Mark Inside
- A Perfect Swindle, a Cunning Revenge, and a Small History of the Big Con
- By: Amy Reading
- Narrated by: Richard McGonagle
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1919, Texas rancher J. Frank Norfleet lost everything he had in a stock market swindle. He did what many other marks did - he went home, borrowed more money from his family, and returned for another round of swindling. Only after he lost that second fortune did he reclaim control of his story. Instead of crawling back home in shame, he vowed to hunt down the five men who had conned him. Through Norfleet's ingenious reverse-swindle, Amy Reading reveals the mechanics behind the scenes of the big con.
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Confusing Premise Makes for A Tough Read
- By Grumpy S. Monkey on 06-19-12
By: Amy Reading
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A More Perfect Heaven
- How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos
- By: Dava Sobel
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In her graceful, compelling style, Dava Sobel chronicles the history of the Copernican Revolution, relating the story of astronomy from Aristotle to the Middle Ages. In its midst will be her play, And the Sun Stood Still, imagining the dialogue that would have transpired between Rheticus and Copernicus in their months together. As she achieved with her bestsellers Longitude and Galileo's Daughter, Sobel expands the bounds of science writing, giving us an unforgettable portrait of scientific achievement.
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Interesting but Not Perfect
- By John on 09-01-12
By: Dava Sobel
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The Modern Scholar
- The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin
- By: Professor H.W. Brands
- Narrated by: H.W. Brands
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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This course examines the life of Benjamin Franklin and his influence on both American and world history. He remains the model of the American thinker - a man who was interested in nearly everything, and who pursued those interests with an admirable and contagious passion. To study Franklin's life is to learn not only the history of a single man, but to understand some of the most monumental changes in all of human history.
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Love it
- By Holly on 02-20-16
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The Story of America
- Essays on Origins
- By: Jill Lepore
- Narrated by: Colleen Devine
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Story of America, Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore investigates American origin stories - from John Smith's account of the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to Barack Obama's 2009 inaugural address - to show how American democracy is bound up with the history of print. Over the centuries, Americans have read and written their way into a political culture of ink and type. Part civics primer, part cultural history, The Story of America excavates the origins of everything from the paper ballot and the Constitution to the I.O.U. and the dictionary.
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A Fun Read on Historical Subjects
- By Jim on 08-31-13
By: Jill Lepore
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The Apparitionists
- A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography, and the Man Who Captured Lincoln's Ghost
- By: Peter Manseau
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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In the early days of photography, in the death-strewn wake of the Civil War, one man seized America's imagination. A "spirit photographer", William Mumler took portrait photographs that featured the ghostly presence of a lost loved one alongside the living subject. Mumler was a sensation. Peter Manseau brilliantly captures a nation wracked with grief and hungry for proof of the existence of ghosts and for contact with their dead husbands and sons. It took a circus-like trial of Mumler on fraud charges to expose a fault line of doubt and manipulation.
By: Peter Manseau
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God's Jury
- The Inquisition and the Making of the Modern World
- By: Cullen Murphy
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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The Inquisition conducted its last execution in 1826-the victim was a Spanish schoolmaster convicted of heresy. But as Cullen Murphy shows in this provocative new work, not only did its offices survive into the twentieth century, in the modern world its spirit is more influential than ever.
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A balanced review based on new material
- By Sean on 05-15-12
By: Cullen Murphy
What listeners say about Newton and the Counterfeiter
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Marcela Wall
- 12-17-24
Exciting true story
Truly an exciting story I didn’t wanna put the book down. I kept listening and listening.
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- will
- 08-13-12
Fascinating.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Newton and the Counterfeiter?
This book is about Newton, but it is also about the world around Newton--it is about Newton's London, which is a topic as interesting as Newton himself.
Have you listened to any of Kevin Pariseau’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Any additional comments?
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Overall
- Megan
- 12-12-09
Terrific Historical Biography
I couldn't stop listening to this great biography. By putting such people as Locke and Halley into context, making the science (mostly) understandable, and discovering that Newton was one of the first great English detectives, makes this a must listen. The narrator does a fantastic job.
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Jim
- 03-11-10
Interesting but Long
The core of the biography on Newton and his work with the mint is quite interesting as is the general survey of his life. Just wish it had been edited down a bit as the narrative drags in place. Still on the whole a good listen.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Dan O'Neil
- 08-06-18
Terrific!
A nice and (for me at least) unknown story about the famous scientist. I really like this author and I hope that he writes more soon.
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- Srinivasa
- 05-21-13
Newton in entirely new light
What made the experience of listening to Newton and the Counterfeiter the most enjoyable?
Equal parts of science and cops & robbers.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Newton of course. He is as intense as a bureaucrat as he was a philosopher.
Have you listened to any of Kevin Pariseau’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
This was my first.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No -- but it was quite riveting.
Any additional comments?
I have been fascinated by Newton ever since I was a kid. This book made me realize that he spent but a fraction of his life doing what we best know him for. If alchemy hadn't interested him as much as it did, and if the mint hadn't taken up as much of his time as it did, one can only wonder what other amazing things he would have accomplished.
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Overall
- Stephen
- 05-06-10
Not what I expected
The title of the book had me expecting a Sherlock Holmes vs Moriarty type of story featuring two brilliant antagonists. However, I was dissapointed to find that the story was more Javert vs Valjean than Holmes vs Moriarty.
First, a good third of the book provides a review of Newton's personal life and very brief mention of his scientific accomplishments. If you are unfamiliar with the life of Newton, you will find this interesting. If you are familiar with his story, you will find very little new information.
The title leads you to expect a story where Newton, as the Warden of the Treasury, is pitted against a counterfeiter. Although this is generally true, it is not the story of the Newton's great intelligence against a criminal mastermind. Newton used his position, to establish a network of informants and he used the law to convict a counterfeiter, Chaloner (a somewhat successful counterfeiter of coins). Chaloner was an agressive and brazen crminal, but hardly in Newton's intellectual class. The method of capture and his conviction was very 'ordinary' in nature.
Newton did not relish his role as a policeman but was compelled to carry out this aspect of his Warden's job. He did use his skills of thoroughness and logic to catch and convict but was hardly otherwise challenged.
There are better books about Newton and the 'detective' portion of the story was disappointing.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Michael S. McDaniel
- 12-22-16
Don't believe the title
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
The majority of this book has nothing to do with it's purported title. There is way too much dry, unnecessary biographical information and musings on the history and philosophy of science. The actual story of this book does not begin until the middle.
Would you ever listen to anything by Thomas Levenson again?
Based on my reading of this work, I would very likely not listen to other books by this author.
Would you listen to another book narrated by Kevin Pariseau?
Yes, the narrator was perfectly fine.
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Newton and the Counterfeiter?
I would have edited out all of the first 8 or 9 chapters. Completely unnecessary to the supposed plot and thrust of the book. Wasted ink, time and recording.
Any additional comments?
Don't be fooled by the title. I was very disappointed in what should have been an excellent story.
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