The Janus Faces of Genius The Role of Alchemy in Neton's Thought [Paperback]

A landmark study of the 'founder of modern science'.This major re-evaluation of Isaac Newton's intellectual life shows how his pioneering work in mathematics, physics, and cosmology was intertwined with his study of alchemy. Newton's work is interpreted as a constant attempt to bring together partial truths, with the larger goal of restoring true natural philosophy and true religion.This major re-evaluation of Isaac Newton's intellectual life shows how his pioneering work in mathematics, physics, and cosmology was intertwined with his study of alchemy. Newton's work is interpreted as a constant attempt to bring together partial truths, with the larger goal of restoring true natural philosophy and true religion.In this major reevaluation of Isaac Newton's intellectual life, Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs shows how his pioneering work in mathematics, physics, and cosmology was intertwined with his study of alchemy. Professor Dobbs argues that to Newton those several intellectual pursuits were all ways of approaching Truth, and that Newton's primary goal was not the study of nature for its own sake but rather an attempt to establish a unified system that would have included both natural and divine principles. She also argues that Newton's methodology was much broader than modern scholars have previously supposed, and she traces the evolution of his thought on the intertwined problems of the microcosmic vegetable spirit of alchemy and the cause of the cosmic principle of gravitation.List of illustrations; Acknowledgments; 1. Isaac Newton, philosopher by fire; 2. Vegetability and providence; 3. Cosmology and history; 4. Modes of divine activity in the world: before the Principia; 5. Modes of divine activity in the world: the Principia period; 6. Modes of divine activity in the world: after the Principia, 16871713; 7. Modes of divine activity in the world: after the Principia, 17131727; 8. Epilogue; Appendices; Bibliography; Index. Dobbs is always in complete control of thl��