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It's not just that alchemy was not "scientifically disproven" in Newton's time. There was no such thing as "scientific" and "pseudo-scientific". Reading about N
by tpetricek 6y ago
It's not just that alchemy was not "scientifically disproven" in Newton's time. There was no such thing as "scientific" and "pseudo-scientific". Reading about Newton's thinking about alchemy is a fascinating look at a way of thinking that we can hardly imagine today. I also thought that it is a nice reminder of the (certain but unimaginable) limitations of our present thinking. There is a fascinating (but pretty academic) book about Newton's Alchemy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Foundations-Newtons-Alchemy-Cambridge-Paperback/dp/0521273811 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Foundations-Newtons-Alchemy-Cambrid...
- submeta 6y agoWhat a wonderful perspective to look at this. We take so many things for granted. The knowledge we have is beautifully compartmented by artificial boundaries we take for granted. All the faculties we have: we rarely question the architecture of this building of knowledge we grow up with.