Marc's+4th+Week+Assignment

__The Chymistry of Isaac Newton: Newton and Alchemy__:

It is interesting to discover that Newton, like many other scientists of his time, practiced alchemy. He was one of the many alchemists who came before and after him who mixed chemicals together, seemingly at random, to turn base metals into gold, create the philosopher's stone, cheat death by living longer, or possibly live forever. It is even quite comical to imagine 17th and 18th century scientists mixing chemicals in their basements and then testing them: explosions, poisoning and all kinds of ailments probably ensued. In fact, the summary of Newton's biography article said the nervous breakdown he suffered late in his life after he was running the Royal Society //could possibly// have been caused by ingesting a bad chemical substance he had mixed. However dangerous, outlandish, or silly this early 'chymistry' may seem, however, it teaches us an important thing about science: some fields are a very hands on deal.

These men had the courage and confidence in their intelligence to experiment blindly. They didn't know what the outcome of any one mixture would be until they tried it or until one of their colleagues did and told them about it. They didn't know what would fail catastrophically or what would lead them on for a while only to result in a dead end. While none of them may have created the philosopher's stone and become rich with infinite amounts of gold or immortality, they //did// create many remedies and "elixirs" to help cure sicknesses, through the now defunct field called iatrochemistry (chemistry for medicinal purposes).

With disease rampant in Europe (read: The Plague), it was vital for someone to take up the effort to find cures. While they may have been disillusioned with the Elixir of Life: a cure-all and granter of immortality, they certainly seem to have discovered remedies for the little things along the way. It was the need that drove them to discover and explore. They lacked knowledge in the true composition of materials in the world both organic and inorganic and how they reacted together, so they experimented, theorized, learned, and put it to practical use. This is the spirit behind any field of science. Whether it involves hands on experiments or simply thought, all sciences attempt to uncover the unknown. These chymists could have gotten themselves into a lot of trouble, and I'm sure a few paid the ultimate price for their experiments, but in the end it was all in the name of a great cause.