Well, Isaac Newton was also a dedicated alchemist who spent some time and energy on a search for the philosopher's stone (which in no way denigrates his other w

Well, Isaac Newton was also a dedicated alchemist who spent some time and energy on a search for the philosopher's stone (which in no way denigrates his other work on gravity, calculus, optics, etc.). That was pretty common thinking up through the late 18th century, when people like Lavoisier and Priestly revolutionized everything via careful quantitative measurements (and open publication, i.e. not keeping their work secret). Again, this was an area where Islamic civilization preservend and advanced on Roman-Greek knowledge during the European Dark Ages. There's also some interesting history regarding the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who apparently made a determined effort to wipe out the alchemists in the Empire because he believed they'd actually managed to make gold, and feared debasement of the currency or the funding of rebel armies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy_in_the_medieval_Islamic_world https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy_in_the_medieval_Islami... I think this is a legitimate YT channel, here's a clip on the Diocletian persecution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG9Po7dlgUo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG9Po7dlgUo