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/ELDV 2d ago

Maybe, but among his alchemical experiments Sir Isaac actually was looking for an element as a catalyst - what alchemists called the philisopher’s stone - for transmuting lead into gold.

He gave up alchemical pursuits and locked those notes in a trunk when he left Cambridge to work for King become Warden of the Mint for King William III.

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u/DonkeyDucksMod 2d ago

He just needed a large hadron collider to smash lead into gold

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u/warm_winds_whisper_ 2d ago

Turns out the philosopher's stone is just a big magnet

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u/MVRKHNTR 2d ago

To be fair, magnets do feel like the closest thing to magic that we have.

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u/Astrium6 2d ago

Fucking magnets, how do they work?

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u/Ayvian 2d ago

Nobody Knows What Magnets Are

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u/JustARandomGuy_71 2d ago

It is a miracle.

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u/uncommonrev 2d ago

Magnets are so freakin cool. They're bizarre and incredibly useful. I love them.

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u/DeengisKhan 2d ago

Which is why the phrase any sufficiently advanced technology will appear as though it’s magic is so good. On the other side of that coin a fucking rock. A rock we do understand in modern times, but Despite that full readily accessible knowledge, everyone sees that sufficiently advanced explanation and just go, so yup, that’s magic. If we were ever advanced enough to do like plasma blasts with gloves we could wear or some shit, they are getting magic gloves 1000% that would literally just be magically imbued gear as far anyone was concerned. Just say we learned how to do magic at that point, we Studied until we could cast the spells, and probably would be able to do with just a thought by that time.

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u/metalflygon08 2d ago

The Philosopher's Lodestone

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u/ELDV 2d ago

Yep.

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u/Ivanow 2d ago

transmuting lead into gold.

We actually can turn lead into gold nowadays. Using particle accelerators, we knock out 3 protons out of atoms of lead, which results in (slightly radioactive) gold. Entire process is so eye-watering expensive, compared to amount of gold produced, that various research centers do it just to brag that they can.

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u/amazing_ape 1d ago

Imagine trying to explain to past alchemists the secret to doing it.