30-07-2020, 05:53 PM
Hi, Mark:
As for Newton and alchemy, you must admit that it is equally likely that maybe he just wanted to turn lead into gold. Or, maybe on a more personal level, be the one recognized as who finally did it.
And given that it just wasn’t possible, or even derivable, at the level of knowledge then - even for a mind such as his - this resulted in a lot of writing.
We will never know. But in light of the general need for practicality of the arts at the time discussed by Koen these seem like more likely motivations to me than a pleasure or solely curiosity based motivation. I wouldn’t let the now known futility of it all color your interpretation of why Newton studied alchemy.
As for Newton and alchemy, you must admit that it is equally likely that maybe he just wanted to turn lead into gold. Or, maybe on a more personal level, be the one recognized as who finally did it.
And given that it just wasn’t possible, or even derivable, at the level of knowledge then - even for a mind such as his - this resulted in a lot of writing.
We will never know. But in light of the general need for practicality of the arts at the time discussed by Koen these seem like more likely motivations to me than a pleasure or solely curiosity based motivation. I wouldn’t let the now known futility of it all color your interpretation of why Newton studied alchemy.