List Price: $19.95You Pay Only: $14.99 You Save: $4.96 (25%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9781593753238
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
ISBN: 1593753233
Label: WGBH Boston
Manufacturer: WGBH Boston
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: WGBH Boston
Region Code: 1
Release Date: February 28, 2006
Running Time: 56 minutes
Sales Rank: 11375
Studio: WGBH Boston
Theatrical Release Date: March 03, 1974
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Editorial Review:
Description:
He was a 17th century Einstein, who reduced nature’s chaos to a single set of laws and revolutionized the thinking and outlook of his age. But in the midst of his astonishing breakthroughs in physics, optics, and calculus, Isaac Newton was also searching out hidden meanings in the Bible and pursuing the covert art of alchemy, or the changing of base metals into gold.
With vivid docudrama scenes starring Scott Handy (Henry VIII) as Newton, NOVA recreates the unique climate of late 17th-century England, where a newfound fascination with science and mathematics coexisted with extreme views on religious doctrine. Unknown to most, Newton shared both obsessions.
Besides revealing his secretive and vindictive personality, this NOVA special shows how he made the bold intellectual leaps that transformed science, such as the universal law of gravitation. Newton’s Dark Secrets also recreates one of Newton’s little-known alchemical experiments using his secret recipes, which have only recently been deciphered. With these lively glimpses of a brilliant and obsessive mind, NOVA explores how Newton became the giant on whose shoulders all later scientists would find a place to stand.
Special DVD features include: materials and activities for educators; a link to the NOVA Web site; scene selections; closed captions; and described video for the visually impaired.
On one DVD5 disc. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: Letterboxed.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Excellent Introduction to Newton
This was an excellent documentary about Newton, his life, and some of his great accomplishments. The title is perhaps a bit misleading as there are no "dark secrets" revealed in the film. Less emphasis of Newton's involvement in alchemy would have been preferable, but overall it was interesting and very well produced.
Rating: - An Incredible Person!
"Newton's Dark Secrets" mostly tells the story of Newton's development of calculus and basic physics principles. As for his "dark secrets," most of that is termed "alchemy" in the program, but actually appears to be early chemistry. The program also states that Newton, while very religious, did not believe Christ was on an equal level of God, and that believing such violated the First Commandment.
Bottom Line: Newton was an incredible person, and I wish the program had been longer and able to go into his life in greater detail.
Rating: - Interesting biography of Newton
I learned more about Newton than I ever did in school...
1. You'll learn more about Newton's personality and see him as a real person.
2. You'll learn about his passion for alchemy and search for meaning.
3. You'll learn about his almost fanatical obsession with knowledge.
4. You'll see great animations and graphics that explain his laws of motion and gravity.
5. You'll witness his dramatic encounters with other scientists, such as Robert Hooke.
6. You'll learn more about how he worked and developed the Principia and Opticks, amongst his other experiments.
7. You'll enjoy the acting and pacing of this entertaining and educational movie.
Rating: - Joseph - Mississippi
This DVD gives a very good overview of Newtons' accomplishments. It is amazing that this man did all of these things 300 years ago. Prior to watching the presentation I was not aware of the fact that Newton did so much research into chemistry. Newton's invention of Calculus and the developement of his theories of gravitation are truely remarkable. It makes you wonder what Newton would be able to do if he were here this day in time.
Rating: - A Fine Introduction to Newton
This is an excellent NOVA biography, and a great overview to the life and discoveries of Isaac Newton. With good acting, costuming and film work, and excellent commentary from some top historians of science (including Simon Schaffer, Jed Buchwald, and Peter Gallison), `Newton's Dark Secrets' serves as a great visual supplement to the overwhelming volume of books and articles on Newton's life. (If you need to start somewhere, save yourself the headache of sorting through it all and begin with the Canto edition of `The Life of Isaac Newton' by Richard Westfall.) Additionally, nice computer animations of the motion of the solar system help illustrate Newton's mathematical description of gravity.
The `...Dark Secrets' portion of the title of this video documentary refers to Newton's involvement with alchemy, the mystical body of knowledge concerned with transformation (e.g. turning lead into gold). In such a short documentary (56 minutes) it is difficult to flesh out the implications of Newton's alchemical work along with his sundry other accomplishments. Certainly he poured just as much of his genius into the practice of this arcane art as he did his studies on light, mathematics, and planetary motion.
But when NOVA poses the question, "how did Newton's alchemy affect his `proper' science?" the best they can come up with is to make a tenuous connection--a mere suggestion really--that Newton's alchemical studies into the "active" properties of nature enabled him to accept the ... Read More
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