Newton's Alchemy and His Theory of Matter
@article{Dobbs1982NewtonsAA,
title={Newton's Alchemy and His Theory of Matter},
author={Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs},
journal={Isis},
year={1982},
volume={73},
pages={511 - 528}
}W HHEN ISAAC NEWTON DIED INTESTATE in 1727, he inadvertently-or perhaps intentionally-provided employment for generations of scholars yet unborn. Laughing, he said to John Conduitt not long before he died "that he had said enough for people to know his meaning,"' but the books and papers he left behind have not always borne out his words. A source of particular confusion has been the relationship between Newton's alchemy and his published theory of matter, and it is the purpose of this essay to…
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