A comprehensive account of the life and works of William Whiston. If Whiston is known for anything today it is his translation of the works of Flavius Josephus, especially by Christians who own an inexpensive copy of Josephus for their biblical study. For biblical chronologists, they know Whiston's dissertation (appendix) at the end of his Josephus translation on chronology. It's where I first came across the differing numbers in the Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint. He then may be known to Newton scholars as Isaac Newton's successor as Lucasian Professor at Cambridge, ousted for the very same anti-Trinitarian views that Newton kept hid. This book by Maureen Farrell, originally a Ph.D. dissertation in the history of science, is formatted on a 1973 typewriter. It has the font, errors, fixes, etc. But, it is highly readable, if not a little nostalgic.

The work is not a strict chronological biography, instead: chapter 1 covers Whiston's biography; chapter 2 his speculations on earth history, especially his New Theory of the Earth; chapter 3 discusses Whiston's work on finding the longitude; chapter 4 discusses Whiston's other scientific activities; chapter 5 discusses Whiston's religious and biblical works. All along are various appendices, mostly annotated bibliographies of Whiston's voluminous writings. There are illustrations, family trees, title pages, etc. strewn throughout the text. As such, it is a great skeleton guide to Whiston, his works, and his thought. People interested in Whiston past his translation of Josephus should start with a copy of this, which you can find for a pretty penny or through interlibrary loan. Then move on to James Force's William Whiston: Honest Newtownian for a more in-depth look at how Whiston's though fit into the Newtonian theological-scientific milieu. A better biography could be written, but it will probably never be undertaken. ( )