The Foundations of Newton's Alchemy, or The Hunting of the Greene Lyon [Cambridge Paperback Library].

Dobbs, Betty Jo Teeter (B. J. T.).

ISBN 10: 0521273811 / ISBN 13: 9780521273817

Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP), Cambridge, 1983

About this Item

Paperback octavo, good condition (reading copy), top edge foxed (other edges slightly), bottom edge rubbed, some edgewear, owner's written name title page. 300 pp. The famous English scientist Isaac Newton left at his death a huge collection of papers (a total of 650,000 words) on alchemy, mostly in his own handwriting. B. J. T. Dobbs exhaustively chronicles the mystic climate of thw Restoration age. She tracks the final 30 years of Newton's life spent in diligent but fruitless quest for the Philosopher's Stone, that is, the extraction of 'philosophical mercury' that was the alleged basis of all metals. The importance of the influence of alchemy on Newton's groundbreaking scientific experiments on optics and the laws of motion has been debated ever since, but was more significant than previously ubderstood.

Seller Inventory # 15717

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Foundations of Newton's Alchemy, or The Hunting of the Greene Lyon [Cambridge Paperback Library].
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP), Cambridge
• Publication Date: 1983
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521273811
• ISBN 13: 9780521273817
• Binding: Soft cover
• Seller catalogs:
  • SCIENCE

About this title

Synopsis

Sir Isaac Newton left at his death a large collection of papers on alchemy, mostly in his own handwriting; the importance of this legacy has been debated ever since. When it first appeared, Professor Dobb's detailed analysis of the foundations of Newton's alchemical pursuits further stimulated interest in the subject by firmly establishing the importance of alchemy in Newton's thought. This book sets the foundations of Newton's alchemy in their historical context in Restoration England. It is shown that alchemical modes of thought and particularly those of a Neoplatonic kind, were quite strong in many of those who provided the dynamism for the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century and that these modes of thought had important relationships with general movements for reform in the same period: reform of religion, philosophy, learning, society and of man himself. Newton's alchemy is thus seen as a critical link between Renaissance Hermeticism and the rational chemistry and mechanics of the eighteenth century.

Book Description

This book sets the foundations of Newton's alchemy in their historical context in Restoration England. It is shown that alchemical modes of thought were quite strong in many of those who provided the dynamism for the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century and that these modes of thought had important relationships with general movements for reform in the same period.