Title: Newton and the CounterfeiterEditor: Thomas LevensonPublisher: Faber and Faber 2009 (First)ISBN: 978-0-571-22992-5Pages: 247
Thomas Levenson is a prominent writer of popular science titles and has ten science documentary films to his credit. He is a Professor of Science Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The present book concerns with the encounter between Sir Isaac Newton, probably the greatest scientist ever lived and William Chaloner, a master counterfeiter in 17th century London. After completing 35 years of work in Cambridge which saw the publication of his magnum opus, Principia Mathematica, Newton was somewhat fed up with life in a provincial town. The feeling was accentuated by his service in Parliament for 4 years in the beginning of the last decade of 17th century which put Emperor William on the throne. Through highly placed connections, he managed to be appointed as the Warden of the Mint. England’s coinage was going through a difficult stage at that time. Coins were struck with the full value of silver in weight. This was naturally subject to pilferage in the form of grinding and scratching. Besides, an error in the exchange rate of silver to gold in England caused more gold to be bought in France for the same amount of silver. So smugglers melted silver coins to ingots, transported them to France, convert them to gold, bring the gold back to England and again convert it to silver coins, beginning the process again. Simple processes were in vogue to produce these coins and this led to widespread counterfeiting. The issue was so grave as to put hurdles in the way of England’s armies fighting in Belgium against France. The emperor was finding it difficult to finance the armies. Newton assumed charge of the Mint at this juncture and by virtue of his ingenuity and acute observational talent, organised the Mint’s operation that he recoined all silver coins in vogue in record time! Though not an economist, he quickly grasped the innards of macro-economics and shone brightly in the political life of that time.
William Chaloner was a criminal specializing in counterfeiting. His encyclopedic knowledge of the underworld helped him set up quick facilities for coining of fine worksmanship that it was very difficult to tell his coins apart from the good ones. He was a cunning man and schemed to acquire Newton’s position as the Warden of the Mint. He influenced several leading statesmen and parliamentary committees with his advice on how to tide over the monetary crises and what steps were to be taken to be one step ahead of the counterfeiters. Though he was arrested and jailed on many occasions, he somehow managed to avoid standing trial, sometimes by giving testimonies against his accomplices. But, getting into the Mint turned out to be a tough proposition and he was ruled against the job. He then turned to polemical remarks and accusations against Newton and called him incompetent to do the job. Newton didn’t respond to such outrages in public, but patiently collected evidence from witnesses and former accomplices against Chaloner. As the regular police force was still not established, anti-counterfeiting activities were the prerogative of the Warden, and as such, he had quasi-judicial and police powers. Newton’s systematic efforts bore fruit at last and his evidence helped him earn a sentence of hanging to death for Chaloner. He was hanged on the scaffold in 1699.
The book gives a general description of both the protagonists’ early career, and of course, Newton’s career is what interests us most. He was practically an orphan as his mother remarried after his father’s death and was earnest in sending him for farm work. But a clergy man prompted her to send her son to Cambridge which recognised the talent in the young man of 19 and held him till he was 54. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics until he resigned to take over as the Warden of the Mint. Though Chaloner is portrayed as a mafia don of somewhat equal standing as that of Newton, the story and several incidents make us doubt the veracity of this statement. Chaloner was frequently in jail for minor felonies and this speaks about his connections! He used to get out of prison by turning informer against his former colleagues in the scheme. Such a man can confront the world’s leading scientist is a bit difficult to accept. Also, the evidence collected against this man was meagre and he was convicted on false evidence, for a previous crime committed by him. The judge and jury was prejudiced to convict the victim and his pleas that the court was overstepping its jurisdiction were also turned down, even though it was a valid argument in current legal practice. Chaloner’s fervent appeals to Newton for his life fell on deaf ears as it seemed that Newton was hell bent on avenging Chaloner for terming him ‘incompetent’.
The book is written in a witty style which appeals to us. Interspersed with Middle English quotations from journals and papers of the time, it keeps up a lively thread unbroken through the entire span of the book. The three laws of motion is given in Newton’s own words as,
- Every body perseveres in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight forward except insofar as it is compelled to change its state by forces impressed.
- A change in motion is proportional to the motive force impressed and takes place along the straight line in which that force is impressed.
- To any action there is always an opposite and equal reaction; in other words, the actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal and always opposite in direction.
Also, Newton’s thought provoking, self written epitaph runs as follows,
“I don’t know what I may seem to the world, but as to myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered around me”.
The book is very interesting and is highly recommended.
Rating: 4 Star
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