4 ms·
Somewhat off-topic, but some time ago I read Thomas Levenson's "Newton and the Counterfeiter", and by the end, my sympathies were with the counterfeiters. ===M
by mannykannot 3y ago
Somewhat off-topic, but some time ago I read Thomas Levenson's "Newton and the Counterfeiter", and by the end, my sympathies were with the counterfeiters.
===Mild spoiler alert===
Isaac Newton was offered the position of Master of His Majesty's Mint more-or-less as a sinecure, not really expected to do much, but he took his responsibilities seriously, firstly by effectively managing the replacement of the realm's old coinage (a project that he had proposed as a solution of the then-unfolding currency crisis), and secondly by tracking down counterfeiters in a deadly (to the latter) game of cat and mouse. He seems to have taken counterfeiting as a personal affront.
- 7thaccount 3y agoThe counterfeiter dude accused Newton of being a thief as an excuse to try to get an up close look at the mint's equipment (or something like that). Newton was incredibly upset and made it his life's mission to make that man pay...and ohhh he did.
- petesergeant 3y agoThe Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson entertaining dives into this in parts, probably only a 3-5,000 page segment of the wider story though
- nullc 3y agoI couldn't finish the baroque cycle, which is an unusual experience for me -- I'd been reading a bunch of old philosophical transactions articles at the time and Stephenson had wrapped up so much actual history (including a lot of really mundane stuff that people put in their publications back then) with unadulterated fiction that I felt like I was being gaslighted by the book!