I never heard of him having such an interest in alchemy.
Yeah, he spent years trying to turn lead into gold. Everyone should have a hobby...
Yup, from what I’ve read he spent most of his time on the Bible and Alchemy. Remember that alchemy was essentially chemistry in those days, not a seperate science. I personally think Newton got interested in optics because of the Biblical account of the the creation of the rainbow after the flood. It’s the one example I know of where God made a permanent change in natural laws after creation, and I think it caught Newton’s attention. Personal theory of mine, very few facts to support it, which is just how I like I like my theories.
Yes and he used a lot of quicksilver(mercury) in his experiments.
Sir Isaac Newton was a great man - and a first-class eccentric and occultist. His erratic behavior and mental decline near the end of his life is thought to be due to mercury poisoning (mercury being an important alchemical element he used in attempts to create the “Philosopher’s Stone”). Significant concentrations of mercury were found in samples of his hair subjected to analysis.