It's incorrect to label Isaac Newton's (1642 - 1726) alchemy as fairly weird for that era. Modern chemistry was invented during the same period. For example, R

It's incorrect to label Isaac Newton's (1642 - 1726) alchemy as fairly weird for that era. Modern chemistry was invented during the same period. For example, Robert Boyle's The Sceptical Chymist, which argued that chemicals were composed of atoms, was published in 1661. It was not until the 1720's that the distinction between chemistry and alchemy was thoroughly established. "The terms "chemia" and "alchemia" were used as synonyms in the early modern period, and the differences between alchemy, chemistry and small-scale assaying and metallurgy were not as neat as in the present day. There were important overlaps between practitioners, and trying to classify them into alchemists, chemists and craftsmen is anachronistic." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy