“A superb biography . . . vivid, sometimes witty, prose . . . a deft, deeply informed account. Thornton’s 'thoroughly researched, gracefully written study locates him [Bowditch] in the several historical contexts to which he belonged: New England society and culture, business management, and science . . . a major contribution to our understanding of the early republic”—Richard D. Brown, New England Quarterly
“Much more than a well-researched and engaging biography”—Thornton “shows how Bowditch’s insistence on arithmetic order . . . a new spirit of numbers . . . contributed to a sea change in American life.”—Theodore M. Porter, Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"A remarkable book . . . a real pleasure to read. . . . Thornton writes beautifully and uncomplicatedly about subjects that are neither beautiful nor uncomplicated. She breathes life and excitement into ledger books, forms, and actuarial tables and paints vivid portraits of corporate board meetings. . . . A great achievement.”—Gautham Rao, American Historical Review
“An enormously learned book about an intellectually challenging subject . . . [bringing] Bowditch to life in order to show us something about the power of numbers to regulate the world—a power that we now know so well we forget it was not always so.”—John Lauritz Larson, Reviews in American History
“Thornton describes in an enjoyable way the lifestyle and society of Salem, at that time a wealthy port town, second only to Boston in New England.”—International Journal of Maritime History
“This recommended biography rediscovers an eccentric who was key in improving several emerging industries. Readers of early American history will find a rich story that moves between New England high society and the founding of the natural sciences.”—Library Journal
“Lucid and intelligent . . . and an often charming account of a remarkably gifted mathematician/bureaucrat”—Isis
“The story of Nathaniel Bowditch is fascinating. Tamara Plakins Thornton tells it with intelligence, warmth, and abundant sympathy.”—American Scientist
“Thornton’s biography of Bowditch is remarkably fluid and her rich narrative profiles the social, economic and cultural issues that surrounded this extremely complicated man. . . . Give[s] the reader a probing, thoughtful, descriptive work about an unorthodox, quasi-genius Yankee.” — The Northern Mariner/Le marin du nord
“A well-researched and convincingly argued biography.”–Journal for the History of Astronomy
