Standard Research Grant: A Complete Digital Edition of Newton’s Chymical Corpus

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

Isaac Newton is regarded by many as the founder of modern science. It was Newton who unveiled the laws governing gravitational attraction, who proved that white light is actually a mixture of unaltered spectral colors, and who co-discovered the branch of mathematics that today we call calculus. And yet it was the same Isaac Newton who spent countless hours in his laboratory over a period of some forty years reading and testing the theories of the alchemical adepts. Newton’s passion for alchemy raises serious questions and puzzles for the modern mind. What were his aims in pursuing the transmutation of metals, a goal that has since been discredited by modern science? Was Newton’s alchemy a reaction to the extreme rationalism of his more mainstream pursuits, or was it somehow part of his overall scientific project? Do Newton’s alchemical laboratory notebooks bear witness to the same experimental rigor as his other writings on optics, for example, display? And why did Newton persist in an endeavor that from today’s perspective could only terminate in failure, for four decades - what products did his laboratory yield that might have led him to believe that success lay around the corner? The present project builds on nearly two decades of previous editorial experience to complete the digital edition of Newton’s “chymical” (alchemical/chymical) works in an online, freely available format. The Chymistry of Isaac Newton project (www.chymistry.org) hosted by Indiana University under the general editorship of William R. Newman, has edited about three-quarters of Newton’s alchemical known alchemical manuscripts, and will complete the task with the funding provided by this grant. The project will also provide bibliographical and advanced searching aids to the user, along with the results of digital tools for ordering the manuscripts chronologically. As a result, end-users will be able to see for themselves how one of the greatest minds in history employed alchemy as a tool of discovery. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.