Thanks to advances in science we know today that the aim pursued by the alchemists, the legendary philosopher’s stone capable of transforming an ordinary metal into gold, could become technically possible but is so costly and inefficient that simply does not deserve it.
in one of the manuscripts of alchemy Isaac Newton , dating from the seventeenth century, scientists found the recipe for a chemical compound that would help the invention of the mythical philosopher’s stone.
this news was reported by the journal LiveScience and explain that this manuscript had not been released as it was part of a private collection until February last was acquired by the Chemical Heritage Foundation at auction in Pasadena, California, United States.
the letter of Newton contains the instructions to generate the “mercury philosopher “, a substance that is essential for the alchemical creation of the philosopher’s stone.
the text has been identified as a copy of an earlier document, written by which in principle is another alchemist of the 17th century, Eirenaeus Philalethes. The identity of Philalethes has been a mystery for historians and scientists for years, recent research suggests that this might actually be the pseudonym of George Starkey, known chemist at that time. It seems that Newton began working on his own formula from annotations Philalethes / Starkey.
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