Peter Ackroyd, the master storyteller of English civilisation, does it again. This time, it's Newton that he reveals in black and white. The book is recently published and promises to provide more illuminating factual evidence of high culture and aspiration in the land of the pork pie.

The Guardian has also published a brief review of this book, which I'm sure my father would enjoy reading. I'm going up to Queensland to visit my parents on Sunday, so I'll mention it to him then.

They write:

Isaac Newton probably wouldn't be the best role model for the aspiring mathematician. Newton famously grouched even about having his ideas published, because: "It would perhaps increase my acquaintance, the thing which I cheifly [sic] study to decline."