The Ocean Of Truth: The Story Of Sir Isaac Newton

by Joyce McPherson

Sir Isaac Newton is one of history's most renownedscientists. He independently developed the mathematicaltechnique known as Calculus, wrote a treatiseon the properties of light and color that is stillconsulted by scientists, and worked out the mathematical details of the law of gravity. What is less well known is the depth of his Christian faith, and the amount of writing, speaking, and research he devoted to defenses of the tenets of Biblical belief.This book makes Newton come alive for readers. From the detailed account of the events that led to his conversion, his Christian faith plays a central role in this biography, as it did in his life.

Genres: Biography, Science, History, Nonfiction, School, Biography Memoir, Childrens

137 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1997

About the author

Joyce McPherson is the author of the Camp Hawthorne series as well as biographies and abridged Shakespeare plays for young people. She is also the mother of nine children who give her good advice for her stories. In her spare time she enjoys reading history, working with young people, and directing Shakespeare plays.

Reviews

[Brit Chhangur · Rating 4 out of 5]

AO Year 4 science book! A great book for Annie to read independently and very interesting, a lot of his own words! Just finished it ahead of her and enjoyed it alot!

[Alicia Perrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An AO year 4 book that I read with my 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders. They all enjoyed this book, it brought Newton’s discoveries to life.

[Lindsay B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good history book! It's an easy read, very easy to follow, and it talks about the most brilliant man ever (or one them). Sir Isaac Newton.

[Sara Hollar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pre-read for AO Year 4. A simple, easy to read biography of Isaac Newton. It was so simple and straightforward, that I don't think it's necessary to pre-read. It's a great book to use as a transition to independent reading.

My son's name is Isaac and he loves math and science, so I know he will really connect with this biography. :)

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grayson and I had so much fun with this book. Newton is now a favorite hero! A love of God and a scientist, he is in! I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I learned a lot and I love that one of my favorite book genres was a part of his life! Who knew!? This book led to a few inspiring ideas for me and I LOVE that. One of which is a questions book. I loved the idea, and I have a lot of questions. I also am going to look into at least one of the books written in the Bibliography because I just loved all he had to say about God AND science and that science is not to be separated from God.

[Ritsumei · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent biography, suitable for kids, but interesting to adults, as well. I love that it's got quotes from him: biographies that include direct quotations are nearly always better. And it is so refreshing to read about a scientist who was not at war with God, written by an author who is not afraid to let Newton's faith shine.

[gloriabluestocking · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic introduction for children and adults of the life of Newton. His sense of awe and wonder, his limitless curiosity and humanity shine through from the first to last page.

[Lauren Fee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I pre-read this one for my Y4 student and found it delightful. My son is really enjoying it as well and for good reason. I came to greatly admire Sir Isaac Newton, both for his robust faith and his thinking mind. His humility that I believe was key to his success was perhaps best captured through the line “I have been thinking about my life and the things that I enjoyed studying. I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself, I seem have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself every now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of Truth lay all undiscovered before me.” What a captain idea for the study of science.

[Nelleke Plouffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love that this biography emphasizes Isaac Newton’s faith and illustrates this with many quotations from his own writings. However, the writing quality often seemed choppy to me, jumping from one thing to another, and from narrative to “preachy” sections. Perhaps it isn’t meant to be read aloud? I read it to my 9, 7, and 5-year-old sons, and they seemed to enjoy it more than I did.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read aloud for my Y4 and Y2 students. Such a well written and inspiring biography! They group narrated these short chapters very well and we all enjoyed learning about the life of the amazing Sir Isaac Newton! My Y2 son was especially excited about the space exploration applications.

[Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this with my kids as part of their school. Everyone, including myself, was engaged and very interested in Sir Isaac Newton's interesting life! I appreciated hearing about his childhood and also how he delved so deeply into the word of God. He was one who was dedicated to the truth!

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that makes the life and discoveries of Isaac Newton accessible to readers of all ages. McPherson does a wonderful job of telling a story that young children can relate to, while giving information that even adults will find fascinating. It is a quick read packed with information. I would recommend it to anyone interested in scientific discovery or learning about one of the greatest minds in human history.

[Bobbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wanted to read this book before my son started it this week for school. I'm so glad I did. I didn't really know a whole lot about Isaac Newton. Not only did I learn a lot, but it was also very enjoyable to read. I even told my husband he might like to read it too.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Siting under a apple tree, a apple falls Isaac jumps up, he just found out what gravity is!

[Alise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pre-read for AO Y4. This is an excellent children's biography. It is simply, yet beautifully, written and I think McPherson did a wonderful job depicting Sir Isaac Newton as a living, breathing person from boyhood to death. I have much greater respect for what he accomplished in his lifetime after reading this book. I never realized what a devoted Bible scholar he was. Math and science have never very exciting subjects to me, but this biography increased my interest in these topics, I'd like to study more about Newton and the history of physics.

[Bobbiann Markle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this biography to my 10-year-old who liked it. It is well written and engaging.

[Shelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good beginner (and children's) book about Isaac Newton. Love reading about christian scientists- as they learn more and more about the world it points more and more to the creator.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting look at the life of Isaac Newton, starting from his childhood through his death. His faith and curiosity were emphasized.

[Eliza Fitzgerald]

AO year 4 pre reading

Finished reading with Tom 2025. This was one of his favorite school books this year.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book to whet one’s appetite for even more information (and a brief bibliography is included) or to read Newton’s writings for themselves. The author covers material from his childhood through his death, letting us see his family and friends as well as his habits and accomplishments (some).
I learned that his father had died before his birth, but his maternal grandmother had a large part of his life. He was raised to take over the family farm, but wiser heads prevailed to send him for his education to Cambridge. He didn’t marry, but he remained close to his family especially his niece Catherine and his great-niece Kitty. He recorded observations all his life and one of his most important notebooks was called his “Waste Book.” Not only was he a monumentally important mathematician and scientist, but he also served many years as Warden of the Mint and was promoted to Master of the Mint.
He spent his life looking for and finding truth. Although he felt as though he had only touched on the truths he found and left many more undiscovered, his work stands the test of time and is useful to people of many different beliefs and in many different occupations.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this biography aloud to my grades 5,4,3 and 1 children as we studied the 1700’s this school year. We all enjoyed learning about the life of this brilliant scientist and inventor, who was also a committed Christian. Are Science and Faith incompatible? We think not, and his life illustrates this fact!

���I do not know what I may appear to the world, but 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 before me.” - Sir Isaac Newton

[MPorts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much. As a former civil engineer I had frequently heard of Sir Isaac Newton, and certainly used his discoveries in my discipline. However, I had never read much about him or his discoveries so I knew very little about him. Reading this book with my AO year 4 student/son has been a pleasure beyond measure for me. Isaac Newton was brilliant and interesting. I frequently share what I read about him in The Ocean of Truth with my husband (a former mechanical engineer); he is looking forward to reading this biography with our daughter in a few years.

[Watermarked Pages · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was more interesting and well written than I expected based off the cover. We didn’t learn many technical details of Newton’s discoveries, but what I love about biographies of scientists is that then when we study science my kids are instantly excited when they hear Newton’s name. It gives them an anchor point when they can connect stories of real people to the math, science, or historical events that we study.

This book emphasized Newton’s beautiful faith in God and how that helped him in his scientific discoveries.

[Amanda Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent telling of Newton’s life. I knew about him from my public school education, but not his love of God. That fact was completely stripped from the textbooks of course.

This book is precious, and gives a well rounded view of an extremely intelligent man who gave all the glory of creation to God. He was a genius, and even he knew that the idea of evolution and spontaneous, random appearance of sentient life was absolutely preposterous. Only an intelligent, loving God could create all the wonders of the universe.

[Lmichelleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh dear! Another excellent introductory biography that made me want to read more deeply about Sir Isaac Newton! I've already added more in depth biographies of him to my TBR list.

I appreciated imagining the child and young man Isaac, with all his fascination for the natural and mechanical. He reminds me of one of my sons! I'm so glad to have a glimpse into his faith too, and to learn that scientific study did not crowd out the study of the Bible in his life. What an amazing mind he had!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

My children and I read this book as part of our homeschool curriculum. Even though a couple of the chapters were quite preachy and very Protestant in their approach, overall this was a motivating and informative biography, and I’m glad we took the time to read it. As a read aloud, this book would work best for 3rd-6th graders.

[Carrie Dehart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as my son did, for school, and though it's written for middle grades, I enjoyed learning about Newton's life. I especially appreciated hearing how his faith shaped and informed his research and discoveries. My 10yo son said he liked that Newton seemed to be a normal boy when he was a kid.

[Julia Llorens · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing gentleman! I enjoyed reading this book so much that I read it twice! Sir Isaac Newton was a brilliant man. He was also a very strong Christian. The book leads you on his fascinating journey from a young boy to the day he died, his mind always searching for answers. A definite read!

[M Guerette]

Solid elementary level biography. Gives a nice overview of Newton's life, his discoveries, and his motivation. Chapters are short, so it makes a good choice for 4th-6th grade student to find it manageable. Newton's work influenced so many areas of science and math that it is essential to learn about him. He made the theory of gravity ordinary!

[Alisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 9 and 7 year old loved this book. They especially liked the comet chapter. It was very interesting to get to know Isaac Newton a little bit. He had a very interesting mind and was very intelligent. He would come up with questions I would never think of and he had to get to the bottom of it. Brilliant. It was great to see that he was so committed to Christ as well.