The System of the World is a novel by Neal Stephenson and the third and final volume in The Baroque Cycle. The title alludes to the third volume of Isaac Newton's Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, which bears the same name.
The System of the World won the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and the Prometheus Award in 2005, as well as a receiving a nomination for the Arthur C. Clarke Award
Main characters
- Eliza
- Enoch Root
- Bob Shaftoe, brother of Jack Shaftoe
- Jack Shaftoe
- Daniel Waterhouse
- Isaac Newton
- Johann von Hacklheber, Eliza's son
Other characters
- Henry Arlanc, Huguenot, friend of Jack Shaftoe, porter at the Royal Society
- Mrs. Arlanc, wife of Henry
- Roger Comstock, Marquis of Ravenscar, Whig ally of Daniel Waterhouse
- Will Comstock, Earl of Lostwithiel
- Édouard de Gex, Jesuit fanatic
- William Ham, banker, nephew of Daniel Waterhouse
- Otto van Hoek, captain of the Minerva
- Dappa, first mate of the Minerva
- Mr. Kikin, Russian diplomat in London
- Norman Orney, London shipbuilder
- Mr. Threader, Tory money-scrivener
- Charles White, Tory who bites off people's ears
- Peter Hoxton (alias Saturn), Horologist, engages in illicit activities
Historical figures who appear as characters in the novel
- Catherine Barton
- Caroline of Ansbach
- John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
- George I of Great Britain
- George II of Great Britain
- Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer
- Jack Ketch
- Gottfried Leibniz
- Thomas Newcomen
- Isaac Newton
- Peter the Great
- Sophia of Hanover
- Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke
- Christopher Wren
References
Editions
- : Hardcover edition.
- : Paperback edition.
External links
- The System of the World at Worlds Without End