The System of the World (novel)

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The System of the World
Author	Neal Stephenson
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	The Baroque Cycle
Genre(s)	Historical novel
Publisher	William Morrow
Publication date	September 21, 2004
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages	912 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-06-052387-5 (first edition, hardback)
Preceded by	The Confusion

The System of the World, a novel by Neal Stephenson, forms the third 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.

In 2005, it won the Prometheus Award and, together with The Confusion, the Locus Award.

Contents 1 Main characters 2 Other characters 3 Historical figures who appear as characters in the novel 4 Editions

[edit] Main characters

• Eliza
• Enoch Root
• Bob Shaftoe, brother of Jack Shaftoe
• Jack Shaftoe
• Daniel Waterhouse
• Isaac Newton

[edit] 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, Goldsmith, nephew of Daniel Waterhouse
• Otto van Hoek, Captain of the Minerva
• Mr. Kikin, Russian diplomat in London
• Norman Orney, London shipbuilder
• Mr. Threader, Tory money-scrivener
• Charles White, fictional, Tory who bites off people's ears
• Peter Hoxton (alias Saturn), Goldsmith, engages in illicit activities

[edit] Historical figures who appear as characters in the novel

• Isaac Newton
• Gottfried Leibniz
• Christopher Wren
• Thomas Newcomen
• Peter the Great
• Caroline of Ansbach
• George I of Great Britain
• George II of Great Britain
• Sophia of Hanover
• John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
• Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke
• Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer
• Catherine Barton
• Jack Ketch

[edit] Editions

• ISBN 0-06-052387-5 : Hardcover edition.
• ISBN 0-06-075086-3 : Paperback edition.

v • d • e Works by Neal Stephenson The Baroque Cycle Quicksilver (2003) • The Confusion (2004) • The System of the World (2004) Other novels The Big U (1984) • Zodiac (1988) • Snow Crash (1992) • Interface (1994) • The Diamond Age (1995) • The Cobweb (1996) • Cryptonomicon (1999) • Anathem (2008) Short stories "Spew" (1994) • "The Great Simoleon Caper" (1995) • "Jipi and the paranoid chip" (1997) Essays Smiley's people (1993) • In the Kingdom of Mao Bell (1994) • Mother Earth Mother Board (1996) • Global Neighborhood Watch (1998) • In the Beginning... was the Command Line (1999)