Isaac Newton and Alchemy

I was greatly amused by the article "Moonlighting As A Conjurer of Chemicals" by Natalie Angier for the New York Times. It is about Sir Isaac Newton and how in addition to giving us the laws of gravity and inventing calculus among other solid scientific findings, he was also very interested in alchemy.

Yup, alchemy - turning lead into gold? I liked the article because Angier did a good job of describing why someone of Newton's genius would believe that alchemy is real. I also love science history, so overall that probably explains why I found this fascinating. I also love the title.

I also find this greatly amusing, and I was reminded of it by reading about Isaac Newton: