Newton the Alchemist (eBook)

Science, Enigma, and the Quest for Nature's &quote;Secret Fire&quote;

William R. Newman (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF | EPUB

2018 | 1. Auflage
560 Seiten
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-0-691-18503-3 (ISBN)

Infos

William R. Newman is Distinguished Professor and Ruth N. Halls Professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine at Indiana University. His many books include Atoms and Alchemy: Chymistry and the Experimental Origins of the Scientific Revolution and Promethean Ambitions: Alchemy and the Quest to Perfect Nature. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana.

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A book that finally demystifies Newton's experiments in alchemyWhen Isaac Newton's alchemical papers surfaced at a Sotheby's auction in 1936, the quantity and seeming incoherence of the manuscripts were shocking. No longer the exemplar of Enlightenment rationality, the legendary physicist suddenly became ';the last of the magicians.' Newton the Alchemist unlocks the secrets of Newton's alchemical quest, providing a radically new understanding of the uncommon genius who probed nature at its deepest levels in pursuit of empirical knowledge.In this evocative and superbly written book, William Newman blends in-depth analysis of newly available texts with laboratory replications of Newton's actual experiments in alchemy. He does not justify Newton's alchemical research as part of a religious search for God in the physical world, nor does he argue that Newton studied alchemy to learn about gravitational attraction. Newman traces the evolution of Newton's alchemical ideas and practices over a span of more than three decades, showing how they proved fruitful in diverse scientific fields. A precise experimenter in the realm of ';chymistry,' Newton put the riddles of alchemy to the test in his lab. He also used ideas drawn from the alchemical texts to great effect in his optical experimentation. In his hands, alchemy was a tool for attaining the material benefits associated with the philosopher's stone and an instrument for acquiring scientific knowledge of the most sophisticated kind.Newton the Alchemist provides rare insights into a man who was neither Enlightenment rationalist nor irrational magus, but rather an alchemist who sought through experiment and empiricism to alter nature at its very heart.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 11.12.2018
• Zusatzinfo: 40 b/w + 10 color
• Verlagsort: Princeton
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Esoterik / Spiritualität
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Erkenntnistheorie / Wissenschaftstheorie
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Mathematik
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Physik / Astronomie
• Schlagworte: Adept • alchemical text • Alchemist • alchemists • Alchemy • Alkahest • Allegory • Allusion • Ancient Mythology • antimonial sublimate • antimony • Antimony regulus • apothecary • Aqua fortis • aqua regia • aurific art • Benedictine Basilius Valentinus • Biblical Prophecy • Bismuth • caduceus of Mercury • calcination • calx • Cambridge University Press • Captain Hylliard • Caput mortuum • chemist • chrysopoeia • chymical laboratory • chymical research • chymical studies • chymist • chymistry • chymistry of light • cinnabar • Classical element • Cohobation • Color • Color theory • commonplace book • copper vitriol • Corpuscle • CU Add. 3973 • Daniel Sennert • decipherment • Desideratum • Destructive distillation • dichotomy • Digestion • Distillation • Dry water • Education • Eirenaeus Philalethes • emerald tablet • Empiricism • Enlightenment • Epistola ad Theodorum Mundanum • Exegesis • Experiment • experimental notebooks • Experimental Philosophy • Explanation • Fermentation • Florilegium • florilegium style • Free Grammar School • Geber • George Ripley (alchemist) • Gold • Humores minerales • Hydrochloric Acid • hypothesis • Hypothesis of Light • Illustration • ingredient • Instance (computer science) • Iron ore • Isaac Newton • Johann de Monte-Snyders • Johann de Monte–Snyders • Keynes 35 • Keynes 58 • Keynes MS 58 • Laboratory • laboratory notebooks • lead • Literature • lorilegia • Mechanical philosophy • Metal • Metalloid • metals • Michael Sendivogius • Micrographia • Mining • Nachlass • Natural magic • Natural Philosophy • natural world • Nature • Nicolas Fatio de Duillier • Nicolas Flamel • niter • Nitric Acid • noble metal • Novum • Of Natures obvious laws & processes in vegetation • Opera • optical experimentation • optical research • opticks • Optics • our Venus • Paracelsus • phenomenon • Philalethes • Philosopher • philosophers' stone • Philosophy • Phlogiston theory • Pore • Post-transition metal • Potassium Carbonate • Praxis • Precipitation (chemistry) • printing • Proportion (architecture) • Publication • Putrefaction • Quantity • Ramon Lull • reagent • reason • referent • Refining • refraction theory • refractive power • retort • Robert Boyle • sal ammoniac • scientific collaboration • Scientific Knowledge • Scientist • scythe of Saturn • sea salt • secret fire • Sendivogius • Solvent • sophic mercury • sophic sal ammoniac • Stibnite • Sublimation (phase transition) • Sulfate • Sulfur • sulfuric acid • Thaumaturgy • Theatrum Chemicum • theory • The Philosopher • The Queries • Thought • Three Mysterious Fires • Tincture (heraldry) • treatise • Treatise of Chymistry • Trinity College • Understanding • vegetability • Vegetable • Vinegar • Vitriol • William R. Newman • William Yworth • Writing
• ISBN-10: 0-691-18503-4 / 0691185034
• ISBN-13: 978-0-691-18503-3 / 9780691185033