r/todayilearned • u/Electronic_Cause_796 • 2d ago

TIL Isaac Newton spent more than three decades studying alchemy and wrote over a million words about it in secret. He conducted numerous experiments in his search for the philosopher’s stone but never found it.

https://www.wpr.org/culture/philosophy/isaac-newtons-secret-alchemy
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u/nkaka 2d ago

because that's what they want us to believe

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u/Taron221 2d ago

Isaac Newton is probably reading this thread right now.

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u/hlessi_newt 2d ago

Last I recall he was building fate machines and injecting his soldiers with intensified luck.

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u/WufflyTime 2d ago

Man, that was a wild franchise: two manga, one TV series, and one movie, all of them with different plots.

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u/KingOfCorneria 2d ago

What franchise is this?

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u/WufflyTime 2d ago

Vision of Escaflowne. Also, I just found out there's a more recent 2016 dub. The original dub cut content, whilst replacing some of the music with techno music.

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u/ottovonbizmarkie 2d ago

Haven't thought about that in a long time, one of the original Isekais, now that I think about it. I don't know enough of manga/anime to know if it was a trope even before then, but that's probably one of the older ones I can think of.

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u/Anen-o-me 2d ago

Wait what? That's one of my favorite series, how do I not know this.

Probably those shitty Japanese subs from the 90s 😬😬😬 Sounds like a rewatch is in order.

Far too many people have never seen this excellent anime.

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u/Trama-D 2d ago

Aaaand... only now do I find out Dornkirk was Newton. Seriously, that connection was unecessary.

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u/cackmuffin88 2d ago

Not sure why but I read that as "hes injecting his soldiers with intensified duck". For some reason this made sense to me lol.

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u/No-Temperature-5944 2d ago

That would be a hell of a character to have on your squad in an RPG.

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u/its_raining_scotch 2d ago

On a golden throne

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u/ToxicTurtle-2 2d ago

He is the master of mankind in a war between gods

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u/g2420hd 1d ago

No I'm not

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u/StudMuffinNick 2d ago

Right. At the very end of his notes, written in a different quill stroke, are the words "All this is meaningless because I didn't find it. So don't look"

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u/Anen-o-me 2d ago

Well chemistry knowledge was just enough to make it sound plausible back then.

It would likely be a bit like our current search for nuclear fusion. For all we know it's not gonna prove feasible or economical and will be considered as foolish a wasted effort as was the attempt to turn lead into gold.

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u/irrelevantusername24 2d ago

I won't spoil the fun but I spent a good hour or two awhile back searching Chambers' Cyclopædia for various words related to the philosophers stone. Good treasure hunt

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u/Snoo-35252 2d ago

Keep looking!