{"product_id":"newton-the-alchemist-science-enigma-and-the-quest-for-natures-secret-fire-9780691174877","title":"Newton the Alchemist: Science, Enigma, and the Quest for Nature's Secret Fire","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA book that finally demystifies Newton's experiments in alchemy\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen 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.\" \u003ci\u003eNewton the Alchemist\u003c\/i\u003e 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eNewton the Alchemist\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWilliam R. Newman\u003c\/b\u003e 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 \u003ci\u003eAtoms and Alchemy: Chymistry and the Experimental Origins of the Scientific Revolution\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003ePromethean Ambitions: Alchemy and the Quest to Perfect Nature\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50327246045458,"sku":"9780691174877","price":54.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_79077543-5e09-4904-8a23-7260e0bb6e5c.jpg?v=1727711767","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/newton-the-alchemist-science-enigma-and-the-quest-for-natures-secret-fire-9780691174877","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}