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Royal Society Finds Lost Newton Papers

Posted by Zonk on from the it's-in-a-book-reading-rainbow dept.

Quirk writes "The Royal Society has a story on a Lost Newton manuscript rediscovered. From the article: 'The notes are written about alchemy, which some scientists in Newton's time believed to hold the secret for transforming base metals, such as lead, into the more precious metals of gold or silver...The notes reflect a part of Newton's life which he kept hidden from public scrutiny during his lifetime, in part because the making of gold or silver was a felony and had been since a law was passed by Henry IV in 1404.'"

11 of 267 comments (clear)

  1. alchemy as an allegory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Alchemy is not so crude or base, it's an allegory for the purification of the soul. Transformation from human soul to the divine, base matter to gold. Only the ignorant and the greedy would pursue this craft solely for monetary rewards with singed hair, blasted retorts and noxious chemicals used in an unsafe fashion. They got what they deserved while true alchemists achieved something far more subtle and rewarding than is commonly accepted in our western, material society.

    1. Re:alchemy as an allegory by Quirk · · Score: 4, Informative
      My guess is he's referring to G. Jung's works on the subject. Here's a couple of links:

      http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/titles/57 05.html

      http://www.thezodiac.com/alchemy.htm

      --
      "Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
      Cohen
    2. Re:alchemy as an allegory by entartete · · Score: 2, Informative

      http://www.levity.com/alchemy/

    3. Re:alchemy as an allegory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
      From Wikipedia:

      To understand the alchemists, it is helpful to consider how wonderfully magical the conversion of one substance into another, which had formed the basis of metallurgy since its inception at the end of the Neolithic, would seem in a culture with no formal understanding of physics or chemistry. To the alchemist, there was no compelling reason to separate the chemical (material) dimension from the interpretive, symbolic or philosophical one. In those times a physics devoid of metaphysical insight would have been as partial and incomplete as a metaphysics devoid of physical manifestation. So the alchemical symbols and processes often had both an inner meaning referring to the spiritual development of the practitioner as well as a material meaning connected to physical transformation of matter.


      If you're really interested go read Crowley's 777 or pick up some non-hippy, non-Ravyn Silverwolfe books about western mysticism.
    4. Re:alchemy as an allegory by ninjakoala · · Score: 2, Informative

      I'd advise against getting the audio book though. I bought that and had a very hard time keeping track of the personas. Large parts of the book was also just cut out. Totally frustrating.

      --
      Against the grain
    5. Re:alchemy as an allegory by drwho · · Score: 4, Informative

      This is partly true, partly false. The modern view of alchemists is that they were nothing more than frauds and schemers trying to make gold from lead, and failing miserably. The reality is that alchemy is /was much more complex. To the alchemical mind, the forces of spirit and soul are not separate from the forces of the physical world. They believed in both spiritual and physical transformation. Looking at many old alchemical recipies, they were in fact rites of transformation of the mind first, having much in common with religious and magical ceremony. The best representation of this is the idea of The Philosopher's Stone, which is symbolic much like the Holy Grail (or the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch), but nonetheless it is also thought of by many as a physical object. Both of these may in fact be true.

      The alchemical tradition is really interesting to study. It has a lot of parallels to other spiritual belief systems, but like other systems became corrupted and gradually fell into disrepute but the middle of the seventeenth century.

  2. Re:Hmm, really was crazy by tloh · · Score: 4, Informative

    Math genius though he was, there is nothing scientific about much of what Newton did with his life. In Martin Gardner's delightful book "Did Adam and Eve Have Navels?", we are introduced to not only the Newton the Alchemist, but also Newton the Protestant fundamentalist who was obsessed with Bible codes and thought the Pope was the anti-christ. Funny that you should mention spectroscopy, though. Newton was the one who pass white light through a prism and demonstrate it was composed of a mixture of colors. A bit more rational investigation on his part and he may very well have developed the principles of spectroscopy.

    --
    Stay sentient. Don't drink bad milk.
  3. Re:radioactivity doesn't feel warm.. by AKAImBatman · · Score: 4, Informative

    Alpha and beta radiation doesn't feel warm.

    Yes it does. Or more precisely, it warms the material itself. You feel the heat by old-fashion convection. That's why Pu238 (an Alpha emitter) is warm to the touch and can be used as a power source inside RTGs.

    In either case, the theory is that these alchemists created a critical mass of a radioactive material. It would have begun fissioning, thus producing all kinds of radiation; including thermal, infrared, gamma, neutron, and others.

    --
    Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
  4. So, now we have "felony" in the UK. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I think not.

    Happy treasonous rebelion day, MoFo's.

  5. Re:radioactivity doesn't feel warm.. by ColaMan · · Score: 4, Informative

    Perhaps you'd like to check out CRITICALITY ACCIDENTS from 1943-1970. Plenty of people saw large fission reactions first-hand and lived a day or two afterwards.

    From about three quarters of the way down the page :
    At that time, the screwdriver apparently slipped and the upper shell fell into position around the fissionable material. Of the eight people in the room, two were directly engaged in the work leading to this incident.

    The "blue glow" was observed, a heat wave felt, and immediately the top shell was slipped off and everyone left the room. The scientist who was demonstrating the experiment received sufficient dosage to result in injuries from which he died nine days later. The scientist assisting received sufficient radiation dosage to cause serious injuries and some permanent partial disability.

    "er, Whoops."

    --

    You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
    There is a lot of hype here.
  6. Illegal...not really by drwho · · Score: 2, Informative

    According to C.J.S. Thompson in his book "The Lure and Romance of Alchemy" ) on page 140, he says that is was in 1414 that King Henry IV forbidding the use of the craft [alchemy] in efforts to multiply gold [Thompson says nothing about silver], and the penalty for contravening it was considerable. On the other hand, the practice of alchemy was legalized pursuant to letter patents, and various persons were granted permission or licences to carry on the art of transmuting metals."

    Is it likely that someone so notable as Newton, in such a prominent and respected organization as the Royal Society, would have had any trouble obtaining such a license from the king? I hardly think so. In fact, Newton did dabble in alchemy and was in contact with noted alchemists during his life.

    What is more likely is that, during the 17th century, alchemy had fallen into disrepute (especially after Ben Johnson's play "The Alchemist"), and that his alchemical interests were hidden (occulted?) by those who would hold Newton up as the achetype of the modern scientist, trying to break with the alchemical tradition.

    See my other comments to this story on what I think alchemy really is.