Notice bibliographique
- Notice
Type(s) de contenu et mode(s) de consultation : Texte noté : sans médiation
Auteur(s) : Newman, William Royall (1955-....)
Titre(s) : Newton the alchemist [Texte imprimé] : science, enigma, and the quest for nature's "secret fire" / William R. Newman
Publication : Princeton : Princeton university press, copyright 2019
Description matérielle : 1 vol. (XX-537 p.-[8] p. de pl.) : ill. ; 26 cm
Note(s) : Notes bibliogr.
When Isaac Newton's alchemical papers surfaced at a Sotheby's auction in 1936, the
quantity and seeming incoherence of the manuscripts was shocking. No longer the exemplar
of Enlightenment rationality, the legendary physicist suddenly became "the last of
the magicians." Newton the Alchemist 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. In 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 allusive 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
Sujet(s) : Newton, Isaac (1642-1727) -- Contribution à l'alchimie
Alchimie -- Influence
Indice(s) Dewey :
540.112 09 (23e éd.) = Alchimie - Histoire
Identifiants, prix et caractéristiques : ISBN 0691174873. - ISBN 9780691174877 (rel.)
Identifiant de la notice : ark:/12148/cb45672037g
Notice n° :
FRBNF45672037
(notice reprise d'un réservoir extérieur)
Table des matières : The enigma of Newton's alchemy ; Problems of authority and language in Newton's
chymistry ; Religion, ancient wisdom, and Newton's alchemy ; Early modern alchemical
theory: the cast of characters ; The young thaumaturge ; Optics and matter: Newton,
Boyle, and Scholastic Mixture Theory ; Newton's early alchemical theoricae: preliminary
considerations ; Toward a general theory of vegetability and mechanism ; The doves
of Diana: first attempts ; Flowers of lead: Newton and the alchemical florilegium
; Johann de Monte-Snyders in Newton's alchemy ; Attempts at a unified practice: Keynes
58 ; The fortunes of Raymundus: Newton's late florilegia ; The shadow of a noble
experiment: Newton's laboratory records to 1696 ; The quest for sophic sal ammoniac
; Extracting our Venus ; Nicolas Fatio de Duillier, alchemical collaborator ; Praxis:
delusions of a disordered mind? ; The warden of the mint and his alchemical associates
; Public and private: Newton's chrysopoeia and the republic of chymistry ; The ghost
of Sendivogius: niter, sulfur, fermentation, and affinity ; A final interlude: Newton
and Boyle ; Appendices: 1. The origin of Newton's chymical dictionaries ; 2. Newton's
"key to Snyders" ; 3. "Three mysterious fires" ; Newton's interview with William
Yworth.
