The tale grew in the telling, as the saying goes, and it ended up being a trilogy: QUICKSILVER, THE CONFUSION, and THE SYSTEM OF THE WORLD, bound and sold separately. As extraordinary an achievement as Cryptonomicon, Quicksilver is Neal Stephensons first novel in his acclaimed Baroque Cycle. 1) Mass Market Paperback Januby Neal Stephenson (Author) 1,911 ratings Book 1 of 3: The Baroque Cycle See all formats and editions Kindle 7.99 Read with Our Free App Audiobook 0.00 Free with your Audible trial Hardcover 33.23 97 Used from 1.76 27 New from 22.00 30 Collectible from 9. I made a spur-of-the-moment decision that I would write a prequel set around the time of the birth of the Royal Society. The fact that Leibniz and Newton were at war with each other for most of their careers suggested it was a fertile source of plot.

Of interest to me was that CRYPTONOMICON had been all about computing, codes, and gold. The other was with Steven Horst, who mentioned Isaac Newton's tenure at the Royal Mint and his obsession with alchemy. Daniel Waterhouse as he becomes involved in the politics of the period, while maintaining his interest in science and his affiliation with the Royal Society of London. The novel follows the life and achievements of Dr.

One was with George Dyson, author of DARWIN AMONG THE MACHINES, in which he talks about the deep roots of computing in the work of Leibniz at the dawn of the Scientific Revolution. PLOT SUMMARY 'Quicksilver' by Neal Stephenson is the first volume of a historical fiction series about the Baroque period. As I was finishing CRYPTONOMICON, I had two chance conversations with old friends. An unexpected byproduct of CRYPTONOMICON that ended up taking over my life for a number of years.

Quicksilver by neal stephenson