ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents the story dates from the early 1690s, when Roger North was preparing to remove from London to Rougham, Norfolk. It discusses the first event, namely, North's reading of Isaac Newton's books on rational mechanics and on optics. The book introduces readers to North himself, includes an edition of an autobiographical fragment intended as a preface to a collection of his thoughts in the form of essays, some of which had been written, others of which were in course of writing. To alleviate his isolation North found solace in reading leading out to a succession of conversations with himself in the form of 'second thoughts', that is to say, reflections on his experience of reading his own or others' writings. Like many lawyers of the period, North has a tendency to interlard his texts with Latin phrases.
