Includes bibliographical references (pages 154-158) and index.

A surprising true story of Isaac Newtons boyhood suggests an intellectual development owing as much to magic as science. Before Isaac Newton became the father of physics, an accomplished mathematician, or a leader of the scientific revolution, he was a boy living in an apothecarys house, observing and experimenting, recording his observations of the world in a tiny notebook. As a young genius living in a time before science as we know it existed, Isaac studied the few books he could get his hands on, built handmade machines, and experimented with alchemya process of chemical reactions that seemed, at the time, to be magical. Mary Losures riveting narrative nonfiction account of Isaacs early life traces his development as a thinker from his childhood, in friendly prose that will capture the attention of todays budding scientistsas if by magic. Back matter includes an afterword, an authors note, source notes, a bibliography, and an index.