Strangely enough Thomas Fairchild is perhaps one of the less vivid characters in this book. The author, Michael Leapman admits to the difficulty of finding any documentary information regarding Fairchild's life and the lack of any existing documents etc., so generally has to extrapolate from references from others, particularly from letters. Richard Bradley, the main source of the secondary , actually comes across as far more interesting - everyone's idea of the Eighteenth Century scientific buccaneer.
The debate between science and religion, was obviously significant to Fairchild, who left money for a sermon to given in his memory, a practice which continues to this day. Leapman writes with vigour about issues such as this not only in regard to the Eighteenth Century, but also relates it to the present day. The descriptions of London, and the scientific and social background of that time are vivid and illuminating. ( )