On a Grander Scale: The Outstanding Life of Sir Christopher Wren Book

On A Grander Scale: The Outstanding Career of Sir Christopher Wren is Lisa Jardine's (aptly titled) expansive and scholarly biography of the architect responsible for some of London's finest buildings. Wren was not only an extremely talented architect; he was also a gifted mathematician, inventor, anatomist and astronomer. The latter interest, Jardine reveals, shaped his designs for the Greenwich Observatory, St Paul's cathedral and the Monument to the Great Fire of London, which was constructed with a scientific laboratory in its basement. Illuminating Wren's perpetual commitment, and his contributions, to science forms the major part of this study. (Later in life, Wren himself complained that he "had been obliged to spend all his time in rubbish" instead of working on his true vocation, science.) One of the most compelling aspects of Jardine's book, however, proves to be her thorough examination of the influence of the regicide on Wren¹s life and career. Wren's father and uncle were distinguished Royalists who idolised the martyred Charles I during the Commonwealth era. At the Restoration, Charles II rewarded faithful old Royalists by giving them and their offspring senior positions in his deeply nepotistic court. Wren and many of his circle--including John Evelyn, Robert Hooke and Robert Boyle--were recipients of such patronage. As this impressive work shows, the ideals of the Royal restoration and the architect's own ambitious building schemes were always inextricably linked.--Travis ElboroughRead More