To be clear:
Newton was not an oddball for drinking mercury. Many alchemists (the type trying to convert lead to gold, not the earlier type often thought of as precursors to scientists - at the time of Newton, Natural Philosophers were essentially the precursors to scientists) drank mercury to cure a number of problems. In the end, the poisoning killed/deranged so many they finally figured it out but by then, some of the brightest (well, not THAT bright) minds were long gone.
Just to make the point that Newton wasn't alone in his decision to ingest a non-edible chemical.
Ben
Slashdot Mirror
Time and time again my wife and I tell each other we're moving to Canada, Australia, or Sweden. This is one of those times.
To be clear: Newton was not an oddball for drinking mercury. Many alchemists (the type trying to convert lead to gold, not the earlier type often thought of as precursors to scientists - at the time of Newton, Natural Philosophers were essentially the precursors to scientists) drank mercury to cure a number of problems. In the end, the poisoning killed/deranged so many they finally figured it out but by then, some of the brightest (well, not THAT bright) minds were long gone. Just to make the point that Newton wasn't alone in his decision to ingest a non-edible chemical. Ben