Sir Isaac Newton was known as the father of physics. Living in the 17th century, he is widely recognized as one of the most influential scientists of all time. Now, though, a forgotten manuscript has revealed that this man had another hobby: alchemy.
"Newton was intensely interested in alchemy almost his whole life," said James Voelkel, curator of rare books at the foundation's Othmer Library of Chemical History. "These alchemical manuscripts consist of about a million words he wrote in his own hands."
Alchemy was known as chymistry during this time period. This practice, generally speaking, was the idea that all metals were composed of different components. Changing one of the principles could, in theory, change the metal. The "Philosophers' Stone" was a tool theorized to actually allowed you to cary out this process automatically. In theory, it would be possible to turn other, lesser metals into gold or silver.
Newton's manuscript seems to detail a recipe that was first authored by alchemist George Starkey. It showed how to prepare mercury for the Philosophers' Stone. At the time, alchemists believed that mercury was supposed to break down a metal into its various components. It's likely that Newton copied the recipe from another manuscript before Starkey published it.
Newton transcribed about a million words on the subject of alchemy, and his manuscripts on the subject include a diverse set of document types. These include lab notebooks, indices of alchemical substances and, like this case, transcriptions from other sources.
Interestingly, Newton approached alchemy as if it were science. He systematically recorded findings from other alchemists and wrote them down in order to compile notes. Of course, it's likely that to Newton, it was a type of science.
The recent discovery reveals that Newton was intensely interested in alchemy. Not only that, but he treated the study as a science rather than "magic." This, in turn, tells researchers a bit more about the life and history of the famous scientist.
The rediscovered manuscript will be housed at the Othmer Library of Chemical History. It will be available to researchers for further study, and an electronic copy will also be shared with a project currently being conducted at the Indiana University.
