Why didn t Newton, who studied alchemy, lay the foundations of modern chemistry?

Newton's pioneer of modern chemistry has played a positive role in the history of chemical development. Through alchemy, people gained experience in chemical manipulation, invented a variety of experimental instruments, and learned about many natural minerals. Alchemy became the basis for the emergence and development of modern chemistry in Europe, and gunpowder was not discovered in this way in China, but gunpowder was one of the most powerful discoveries in China.

But Newton's motives should not be confused with those of the Chinese Taoist priests of the elixir. Newton also managed the currency, Newton was very ruthless against those who engaged in counterfeit money, Newton's monetary reform even established a gold standard monetary system in Britain, which is today the Nobel Prize in economics! In conclusion, you can see Newton in mathematics, Newton in physics, and you can't avoid Newton in economics!

Because the two are not the same in nature. First, alchemy in the West is relatively popular, but anyone or organization with better economic conditions can carry it out and has a better mass base. Chinese alchemy, on the other hand, served only the royal family, and for the common people, there was more mystery and fear than interest.

Second, in the process of developing alchemy, the West developed a large number of measuring instruments, such as the more important balance instruments, which laid the foundation for the quantitative use of chemistry in the future. Most of the research in China is relatively rough, for example, traditional Chinese medicine is still a few dollars and a little bit.

Because the purpose of the two is completely different.

The germ of "alchemy" in the East appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, however, after the development of the Western Han Dynasty, especially after integrating into Taoist thought, it became a kind of "alchemy", the pursuit of immortality is the mainstay, supplemented by iron into gold. The ancient Chinese believed that taking medicine is to transfer the nature of medicine to the human body, so if a person wants to become an immortal, the medicine itself must have the nature of "immortality".

After the revival of European alchemy by the Arabs in the 8th century AD, Western alchemy developed a different style from its Chinese counterparts. Alchemists used scientific recording methods in the process of alchemy, as well as precise experimental instruments such as distillation flasks, funnels, and flat-bottomed evaporation dishes. Therefore, compared to the Taoist brothers in the East, who relied on their hands, they were able to record experimental data and results relatively accurately, and improve them through continuous reproducible experiments.

Although many people think of wizards and magic sticks when they think of alchemists, many scholars and scientists we are familiar with, such as Bacon, Newton, and Boyle, are also famous alchemists. They believed that alchemy was the foundation of natural science and medicine, and that experimentation was the real way out of alchemy. In the 16th century, after Boyle's transformation, alchemy was transformed into modern chemistry and embarked on the path of science.

Because Western alchemy appeared for profit, that is, to make base metals become ***. They believe that metals undergo a series of chemical reactions to transform into more valuable metals. However oriental.

Because there are more developed countries in the West, some of their things will naturally be considered good, and people will believe it, of course, they will work hard to develop, and they will succeed...

For the immortality of ancient emperors, but gunpowder was invented in China.

Probably the main thing is caused by the difference between Eastern and Western cultures.

What cannot be ignored is the length of the industrial revolution and the development of the capitalist society. The countries of the East have been in a feudal society for a long time, and the industrial revolution and the capitalist society have mostly been passive reforms. So if there is no demand in the market, there will be no development.

Logical thinking and abstract thinking are not the same in the direction of development. Western way of thinking is also called analytical thinking, they do not pursue compromise and harmony when considering problems, and they can understand it in general as the Chinese, but like to separate things from a whole and logically analyze the essential characteristics of things. As a result, Oriental technology is mostly superficial descriptions rather than principle exploration, which is broad but not profound.

This is related to the system, the feudal system in ancient China, which led to the study of the four books and five classics, and there will be no other teaching materials, which means that the state's educational institutions will not teach students the knowledge outside the four books and five classics. However, if you accept apprentices to run a school, it will lead to a lack of academic exchanges and cause knowledge to be limited to one side. This is why Chinese alchemy is limited to useless research.

Capitalism in the West arose earlier, and the teaching system would be better than that of ancient Chinese feudal society, and state-run teaching would be more practical, so alchemy would evolve into chemistry.

The West is the descendant of mechanical civilization, and the East is descended from the food civilization.

And the Oriental has been passed down as a traditional Chinese medicine (manual smile).

For their lives are God's, and ours are our own.

There's nothing wrong with protecting the East

The West is not for chemistry, chemistry is just a by-product, the main purpose is alchemy (although it has never succeeded) The East is to refine the elixir for the emperor, and the result is to create gunpowder by the way, the purpose is different.

Alchemy, is the alchemist's unique skill, the alchemist has four skills, one skill shaker, two skills acid mist, three skills plus money, the ultimate is transformation, see Dota 2 Hero Strategy - Alchemist for details.

Differences in mindsets. This problem is not only in chemistry, but also in mathematical physics.

Chinese and Western beliefs are different. China seeks immortality, but the West does not. Moreover, the original purpose of the development of alchemy in the West was not for chemistry, but only the discovery of chemical principles in the process of studying alchemy.

The West: The pursuit of scientific truth, because the country is small and has to defend itself against other foreign enemies, is equivalent to the development of advanced technology now.

Oriental: Superstition, the emperor pursues eternal life, the national strength is strong, and the emperor has a strong desire to survive, which is a blind toss.

The alchemy of the East served only the royal family. Because the emperor was worried about the leakage of the secret recipe for immortality, the knowledge of the alchemist warlocks was almost not leaked and could not be disseminated, and the scientific knowledge in it was only mastered by a small number of people, so naturally there was no way to promote the development of science and chemistry.

Alchemy in the West is different. For example, the legendary Western alchemist Paracelsus graduated from the University of Vienna and was only the child of an ordinary doctor's family, which means that ordinary people can also come into contact with chemistry, and the knowledge of chemistry can be widely disseminated.

Moreover, the traditional Chinese metallurgical methods are more inclined to empirical induction, while the traditional Western metallurgical methods are more inclined to experimentation, especially after the period of Galileo. It is clear that positivist experiments are more accurate in chemistry than empirical induction.

Regardless of the science, the construction of basic science is crucial. If people don't have access to science, science loses its greatest impetus.

For alchemy, in the final analysis, for immortality.

Yes, just look at his resume.

To put it simply, medieval alchemy was an attempt to use some kind of medicine or ritual to evolve people's spirit and power to a higher level. Speaking of which, the first to study alchemy were Chinese Taoist priests and Egyptian priests. There are many introductions to alchemy in China, and it is always used to use alchemy, which is said to prolong life, or turn stones into gold.

However, the so-called lead mercury and yellow technique failed to reveal the laws of life itself, and gunpowder came into being. In Egypt, the secrets of alchemy were also in the hands of a few monks, and after the Hellenistic era, the books of the Library of Alexandria were recorded. But the people of the Ptolemaic dynasty were only descendants of European rulers, the mysteries of hieroglyphics have long been lost, and Napoleon's expedition and the breakthrough on the Rosetta obelisk were thirty centuries later.

Finally, the world's largest library has been reduced to a pile of ruins with **, and the mysteries of the Old Kingdom have been overshadowed forever.

With the prosperity of Panhellenic civilization, so did the humanistic spirit, and it was an era of omnipotence. Aristotle was an alchemist who believed that matter could be synthesized by laws. According to his doctrine, the world is made up of four basic elements:

Water, earth, fire, air. All forms of material society are made up of these four elements according to different proportions. Therefore, as long as external influences and catalysis are applied, the soil can also be turned into **.

Many people have the impression that Newton is a genius of physics who is scientific research, but in fact, the most surprising thing is that his research in alchemy, in the book "Super Science Boy SSJ: Wonderful Newton of Mechanics", leads everyone to know the real Newton in a comic and witty way.

Many people's first impression of scientists as a child may come from Newton boiling his pocket watch as an egg. The impression of Newton should be just a physical genius obsessed with scientific research. However, recent research has found that the real Newton is actually far from the traditional impression of Newton.

Many misunderstandings, in addition to being partly due to people's obscenity of the sages, are mainly caused by differences in time and space environments.

This book attempts to take you back to Newton's time in a comic and semi-humorous way, so that we can understand the real Newton. Look at how Newton, in the era when science was just in its infancy, used his personal strength to sow the clouds and mist, and show the rational light of science. On the other hand, Newton's personality and behavioral characteristics and shortcomings are also described in detail.

Let us recognize the many irrational behaviors of the founders of a rational age. The book is witty and enjoyable, and the main points are objective and precise.

Perhaps one of the most surprising things about Newton's recent studies of Alchemy is Newton's work. In fact, Newton probably spent more time studying alchemy than he did studying gravity, mechanics, optics, and mathematics combined. Many of the manuscripts he left behind were also about alchemy.

None of this was well known at the time, partly because alchemy was not on the table at the time.

Imagine that if Newton had focused only on alchemy and not wasted a little time on gravity, mechanics, and optics, our scientific development might have been completely rewritten. From today's point of view, the results of these alchemies are of little use. But Newton's method of detailed recording, observation, and comparison in alchemy sets a good example for the modern systematic scientific method.

And his own experience in alchemy also allows him to play a good role in the work of the Mint. Not only was the coinage accurate, but the production also increased dramatically.

What is the end of science? Why Newton and the giants of science indulged in the study of theology in their later years.

As a top science and engineering otaku, Newton has been yearning for the legend of alchemy for a long time, but he does not want to prove that he can turn stones into gold through alchemy. In fact, Newton's purpose was completely opposite, because in his eyes, alchemy was completely unfeasible, but the world thought it was a viable legend, and as a generation of physicists, Newton hoped to prove that it was a hoax through his own experiments.

Newton's alchemy was not a trick to deceive people, but a precursor to modern chemistry and a precursor to the study of material changes.

Newton lived in a time when the boundaries between alchemy and scientific research were blurred and indistinguishable. Newton was a pragmatic man, in order to discover the "structure of nature", he must have to think everything through, any stone that he does not understand needs to be understood, then he studied alchemy for only one reason, there is a certain value in it; The world regarded alchemy as a "charlatan", but many scientists at Newton's time devoted themselves to it, which also indirectly influenced Newton; The word science was born in modern times, before which chemistry and alchemy were interdependent, so it was necessary for him to explore alchemy for scientific research; His friend Boyle had already achieved something by studying alchemy, and Newton was reluctant to be left behind.