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| Plot Summary of The System of the World |
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Morrow, Sep 2004, 27.95
ISBN: 0060523875
In 1714 Daniel Waterhouse arbitrates the irrational dispute between the aging mathematical giants Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, both angrily insisting they invented calculus. However as the two greats brawl like street kids, Queen Anne nears death. The Jacobyte supporters fight with the Hanoverian sympathizers over the succession. Waterhouse fears that the dispute could harm intellectual pursuits in the kingdom.
As the world seems heading towards madness, Waterhouse tries to keep the rising chaos from turning the world back into another dark age. His hope lies in technology and his beliefe that rational people will seek a reasonable solution irregardless of the Newton-Leibniz war.
The story line is packed with insight into the early eighteenth century especially a deep glimpse at some the most influential people of the age.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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"The final volume, 891 pages, of Stephenson's Baroque Trilogy centers almost entirely on the year 1714, when the many threads from "Quicksilver" and "The Confusion" come together. Middling scientist Daniel Waterhouse returns to England from his "Technologickal College" project in Boston to try to patch up the vicious feud between Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz about who invented calculus. But a bomb nearly kills Dan upon his arrival. Greater powers are in play, because Queen Anne is near death, and royal relations of the Hanoverian line (in Germany) are poised to take over the English throne.
What ties Waterhouse and Newton (head of the Mint) to Jack Shaftoe, King of the Vagabonds, is the Solomonic Gold, which is heavier than normal, perhaps because it is a peculiar alloy, and perhaps (as Newton believes) because it has magical qualities. Retrieved from Pacific Islands in "The Confusion" and brought back across North America and the Atlantic to England aboard the good ship "Minerva," it is now being slipped into the coin circulation by "Jack Coiner" (one of Shaftoe's many guises) to screw up England's economy, and sought by Newton for its potential alchemical properties. Jack ends up a prisoner in the Tower of London, destined for hanging, drawing, and quartering. Of course, Jack's great love Eliza, a former slave of the Turks now ennobled as a duchess (and told Jack some 20 years before that he would only see her again on the day he died), works behind the scenes.
As with the preceding two volumes, there are many famous historic walk-ons, from Peter the Great of Russia to Christopher Wren, and plenty of action: betrayals, knifings, swordplay, a miraculous resurrection from death, even a duel with Hobbits (or Haubitzes -- very crude cannons) within the Tower of London prison complex. The sharp-eyed reader may spot references to everything from Macbeth to Monty Python."
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The System of the World |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 18th century
Life of a profession:
- scientist/scholar
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Job/Profession/Status story
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- scientist
Age:
- 40's-50's
- 60's-90's
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- an organization
- society
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 2 ()
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
City?
Yes
City:
- London
Misc setting
- prison
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- actual description of hetero sex
Unusual Style:
- No single main character?
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Click here for more information about this book
Neal Stephenson Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 David Loftus
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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