Overview
'This lively, sympathetic and hugely informative biography brings us closer to Wren than ever before' Frances Spalding, Independent Christopher Wren (1632-1723) was the greatest architect Britain has ever known. But he was more than that. A founder of the Royal Society, he mapped the moon and the stars, investigated the problem of longitude and the rings of Saturn, and carried out groundbreaking experiments into the circulation of the blood. His observations on comets, meteorology and muscular action made vital contributions to the developing ideas of Newton, Halley and Boyle. His Invention So Fertile presents the first complete picture of this towering genius- the Surveyor-General of the King's Works, running the nation's biggest architectural office and wrestling with corruption and interference; the pioneering anatomist; the mathematician, devising new navigational instruments and lecturing on planetary motion. It also shows us the man behind the legend. Wren was married and widowed twice, he fathered a mentally handicapped child, quarrelled with his colleagues and fell foul of his employers. He scrambled over building sites and went to the theatre and drank in coffee-houses. The book explores what it was like to be at Oxford during the Commonwealth, as a generation struggled to make sense of a society in chaos; it recreates the tensions which tore apart the court of James II; it brings to life the petty jealousies that formed an integral part of both the building world and scientific milieu of the Royal Society. Above all, His Invention So Fertile makes clear to the general reader and the art historian just why Wren remains a cultural icon - both a creation and a creator of the world he lived in.
Full Product Details
Author: Adrian Tinniswood
Publisher: Vintage
Imprint: Pimlico
Dimensions:
Width: 15.40cm
, Height: 3.50cm
, Length: 23.40cm
Weight: 0.688kg
ISBN: 9780712673648
ISBN 10: 0712673644
Pages: 512
Publication Date: 02 May 2002
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
A superb biography of Christopher Wren who was not only perhaps the greatest ever British architect but also a polymath who throughout his long life undertook important astronomical, mathematical and anatomical work that made a vital contribution to the ideas of Newton, Halley and Boyle. Tinniswood shows us the man behind the legend and paints a colourful portrait of a fascinating period of English history.
Author Information
Adrian Tinniswood is professorial research fellow in history at the University of Buckingham, adjunct professor of history at Maynooth University and the author of many books on British history, including the Sunday Times bestseller The Long Weekend. He was awarded an OBE for services to heritage, and lives in the west of Ireland.
