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thefalcon·

I can't help but think fondly of the Baroque cycle when reading about the likes of Hooke and Wren.

https://www.nealstephenson.com/baroque-cycle/

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I can't help thinking of the false proof punishment in Anathem whenever anyone mentions the Baroque cycle.

There are so many bits of true history mixed in indistinguishably with irrelevant falsehoods-- which were especially irritating because I'd been reading swaths of Philosophical Transactions from the 1700s shortly before reading Quicksilver-- that I found reading it to be a punishment.

I _love_ the Baroque Cycle but I wish there would be some sort of annotated version which highlights facts and fiction.

I like this idea. Maybe there's a way to put a little beep in before and after a historic sections of the audio books play :)

Same! I really need to read up on the actual history a bit more, as it was a golden age of really cool (and bizarre) things happening.

James Gleick's Isaac Newton is an excellent account of the time. It focuses on Newton's life and is quite brief, but still prepares you to recognize many of the cast in the Baroque cycle.

I would perhaps recommend The Clockwork Universe[0] instead, which is more or less exactly an overview of the characters and intellectual influences of the time.

[0] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004GB1TTA/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?...

I was thinking the exact same thing while reading. And while holidaying in Bohemia earlier this year!

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