Sir Isaac Newton, the Alchemist

Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton, the genius in the field of science, knew that he was more gifted than the average person. He was aware that he was smarter than many people, and because of it he wanted to use his intelligence in a useful manner.

Sir Isaac Newton was born in England on Dec. 25, 1642. He was skilled in mathematics and physics, and he had to sacrifice his social interactions in order to fully dedicate himself to his work. He rarely met and interacted with other people, and he rarely left his house. He was unlike the other people, as he did not like to play any sports, he had no talent at music, and he did not engage in activities such as drinking or gambling. He wasn’t too found of poetry either, as he considered it to be a “kind of ingenious nonsense”. He never had a romantic relationship, and many believe that when he died at the age of 85, he was still a virgin.

Humphrey Newton, who was his assistant, said that the famous physicist never took any time off from work, as he fully dedicated himself to his researches. Newton was one busy man, as he issued numerous theories and formulas which we still use, the most famous being about the gravitational force and about the laws of motion. He also invented the calculus, and he discovered the spectral properties of light. What many people might not know is that besides his work in the field of physics, he was also very interested in alchemy. It is said that he dedicated himself more than 30 years to alchemy, which is the process of turning one element into the other. Of course, the main task of the ones who were engaged into this activity was to turn base metal into gold, a process which if would have succeeded, would have resulted in a life without worries.

It was rumored that he was interested in this process, but the final pieces of the puzzle have recently been discovered. It has been revealed that he was more than interested in alchemy; one could say that he was obsessed by it. He wrote more than one million words about it, and up until recently, his papers on it have been ignored. William Newman, a professor of the history and philosophy of science at Indiana University in Bloomington, stated that the recent documents about Newton and his interest in alchemy have surprised a lot of people. It is no surprise if you think about it. Newton is seen as one of the most important scientists from history, being considered by many greater than Einstein. Many are wondering how such a brilliant mind, be interested in such a strange and naïve practice? Some say that he was mad because of the constant exposure to mercury, whereas some say that he was very greedy, and he did it in order to become rich.

Dr. Newman believes that he wasn’t any of that, and he states that people are analyzing the problem from the wrong point of view. There are many who are surprised by the fact that one of the greatest minds in the history was involved in such medieval practices, but the reality is that during his times, alchemy was not seen as an absurd thing. The scientists of those times actually believed that the compounds could be broken and then be rearranged into a different structure in order to result in a totally different material. It was not unusual for miners to collect pieces of copper which were tangled with silver. That might have made them believe that the two were the result of a weird mixture, or that the copper has evolved into silver because of certain processes. Isaac Newton believed in alchemy because most of the scientists from that period believed in it.

The process of transforming an element into the other is not possible, even with our current technology. One would need a particle accelerator in order to be able to do it, and as you might know, the one which exits is not ready for use yet. The reality is that alchemy can be seen as chemistry. The search for turning copper into gold lead to some discoveries such as new drugs, stronger soaps, better alcohol, and so on. For Newton alchemy might have played a very huge role. Dr. Newman believes that Newton managed to discover that white light is a mixture of colored rays with the aid of alchemy. He believes that the discoveries which Newton made in optics would have not been possible without the aid of alchemy. The main belief during that period was that the substances were made out of tiny and indivisible particles.

If you think about it, the quantum physics and the molecular biology is very similar to those ideas and beliefs. The scientists believed during those times, that they could reduce a substance to its core constituents and then make them adopt new configurations and programs with the aid of the right solvents and the proper reactions. Newton and many of the other scientists from that period believed that metal could be grown in a flask. They had every right to believe it. For example the glittering “Tree of Diana” could be formed on the glass if one would mix a pinch of silver and mercury in a solution of nitric acid, and then he would drop in a lump of metal amalgam. That was possible, and they believed that changing copper into gold can be just as easy, as long as the right reactions are used.

Their beliefs were also made stronger by the fact that miners kept on finding the previously mentioned minerals which gave them the impression that they formed in that manner underground. The researchers of that time managed to invent wonderful things with the aid of alchemy. Their search to transform copper into gold, resulted in new pigments such as the bright green verdigris and many others. The artists stopped making their own colors, but resorted to the alchemists instead. Medicines were no longer produced at the monasteries, but in chemical laboratories instead. It seemed that chemistry became more and more popular. Dr. Newman stated that if you would go in England and ask a person about a “chemist”, they would send you to a pharmacist. It all began during Newton’s times, and the situation remained unchanged.

The alchemists were useful at spotting fraud, and they were often used to analyze certain materials and certain liquids which the charlatans wanted to sell. If one alchemist tried to trick the king, he would be executed. Expert alchemists were hired by the king in order to analyze the substance brought by other alchemists. Newton held such a position, and it is said that he was extremely brutal. He sentenced people to death for the minor infractions.