The country's currency consisted entirely of silver coins, and that silver was often worth more than the value stamped on it. See, by the late 1600s, England's financial system was in full-blown crisis mode. No transmutations were reported.Īnd since counterfeiting was then a capital offense in Britain, the miscreants he brought to justice typically wound up at the execution block. In 2005, historian Newman reproduced this same stone by following Newton's 300-year-old notes. While not quite an invention, the stone illustrates much about the mind and times of this scientific icon. Ultimately a fruitless effort, Newton managed to produce a purple copper alloy. This led Newton to texts on the philosopher's stone, which he attempted to decode in order to produce the mysterious substance itself. According to historian William Newman, he sought "limitless power over nature." Thirty years' worth of experimental notebooks, however, reveal that Newton's sights were set on far more than chemical reactions or even the promise of gold. Alchemy hadn't quite been kicked to the curb as outdated quackery, and for all their occultism and mystical philosophy, alchemical texts also dabbled in very real chemistry. Why did one of the greatest scientific icons involve himself with alchemy? To answer that question, you have to remember that the scientific revolution was just gaining steam in the 1600s.
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