Delve into a frighteningly brilliant but deeply troubled mind… This documentary reveals a very different Isaac Newton from that of popular myth – a much more fascinating and complex man than the powder-wigged puritan of the history books. Discoveries uncovered in this documentary piece together the dramatic and tragic tale of Newton’s dark genius. The great Sir Isaac Newton spent only a relatively small part of his life studying science. The rest he devoted to the ancient art of alchemy, heresy and predicting and praying for the end of the world. This documentary looks at this extraordinary period of Newton’s life when, at the height of his genius, he turned to alchemy and theology. Newton locked himself away to pour over the apocalyptic books of the Bible, maniacally searching for the date of the end of the world – an event for which he constantly prayed. Decoding long-hidden manuscripts, this documentary reveals Newton’s prediction of the apocalypse. At the heart of this documentary is an amazing paradox. How could a man driven by religious zealotry go on to develop our rational notions of science, and in turn destroy the notion of an omnipresent God, which he held so dear?
