Newton's Secrets

[Mars and Venus Surprised by Apollo by Hendrick de Clerk. This Greek myth was explored and decoded by Newton as an Alchemist recipe].

I did not appreciate the importance of Isaac Newton until I became an adult, then, I realized about the real value of the Universal Law of Gravity and Newton's continuous research for new and improved measuring methods to aid in the developing of his observations and experiments. Consequently, there is Newton's influence in so many things that surround us which have stayed without alterations until this day; Calculus, the astronomic telescope, etc.

It is said that a mind like Newton only happens every half of a century, and a lot has been written about him and his life, so I will not say anything else about it. However, something I did not know and I was surprised to learn is that Alchemy was a very important part of Newton's life, and one side who kept in secret.

Alchemy's reputation was that of mystery. Almost a science, among other things it looked to convert ordinary metals into gold. Newton's image could not be further apart from that of an old wizard using recipes that contain strange formulas such as the Mentrual Blood of the Sordid Whore, after all, Newton was one of the patriarchs of the empiric method! But Alchemy did have its honorable purpose, the creation of the Philosopher's Stone; and this could have been Newton's mission according to the television documentary "Newton's Dark Secrets"(2005).

This documentary with the name of a mystery film -probably, titled that way to catch the casual viewer who flips through channels at high-speed looking for something entertaining to watch and relax- was created by the Nova series of national public televion with the purpose of figuring out what was the purpose of Newton's Alchemy experiments. This genious left hundreds of manuscrips explaining the codified recipes of his Alchemy experiments, but never specified the purpose for his research. There is no certainty, but what is known is that the recipes that have been decodified at present time, have produced real results. Newton believed that Greek mythology carried codified Alchemy recipes embeded into the stories. If you would like to see part of a decodified message used by him to translate Greek mythology to Alchemy recipes, and interactive exercises, click here.

When I was a little girl, I remember listening to my Science teacher tell us what Newton thought of his life as a scientist ... like a boy who found one beautiful seashell at the seashorese, but there were still so many beautiful seashells remaining to be discovered on the edge of the vast sea. Just now I understand this metaphore, when I was little I only understood the part of the seashell search because I loved looking for them! :) ... What was this super-genious looking for? To get to know more about the end of the world? ... According to his calculations, the world will end in 2060 ... If Newton ever made a mistake, I hope it is on the proximity of this date.

Finally, these words honoring Newton ... One's thoughts cannot but turn to this shining spirit, who pointed out, as none before or after him did, the path of Western thought and research and practical construction.... Do you know who said this? Another brilliant mind ... Albert Einstein.


Los Secretos de Newton


No valoré a Isaac Newton hasta ya de adulta, cuando realmente me dí cuenta de la relevancia de la Ley de Gravitacion Universal y la permanente busqueda de Newton por mejores metodos de medicion que ayudaran con la evaluacion de experimentos y observaciones; asi su influencia en tantas cosas que existen hasta el dia de hoy bajo los mismos disenos que el perfecciono drasticamente, como el Cálculo, el telescopio astronomico, etc.

Dicen que una mente equivalente sólo sucede cada medio siglo; bueno, mucho se ha escrito sobre él y su vida, asi es que no me explayo mas en este aspecto. Sin embargo, algo que yo desconocia totalmente y que me sorprendio saber, era que la Alquimia fué una parte importante de su investigacion pero algo que Newton mantuvo muy oculto.

La alquimia tenia la reputacion de ser cosa de brujos, una cuasi-ciencia que buscaba primordialmente convertir metales bajos en oro. Al mismo tiempo, Newton no podria estar mas alejado de la imagen de un codicioso brujo utilizando formulas que envolvian elementos tan extranos como por ejemplo, sangre menstrual de una sordida prostituta; despues de todo, Newton es uno de los patriarcas del metodo empirico! Pero la Alquimia tambien tenia un proposito noble, la creacion de la Piedra Filosofal; y esta podria haber sido la mision en la que se embarco este cientifico, segun el documental para television, "Los Oscuros Secretos de Newton"(2005).

Este documental con nombre de filme de misterio -obviamente titulado de esta forma para enganchar al espectador casual que anda buscando algo entretenido con que relajarse apretando a gran velocidad los botones de su control remoto- fue creado por la serie Nova de la red publica de television en los EEUU y trata de discernir el proposito de los experimentos alquimicos de Newton. Lo que pasa es que aunque el genio investigador dejo cientos de manuscritos explicando las recetas codificadas de sus experimentos alquimicos, nunca definio cual era el objetivo de ellos. No se sabe con certeza cual fue la razon de su busqueda, pero si se sabe que las recetas que se han podido decodificar en la actualidad - han otorgado resultados concretos. Newton creia que la mitologia griega era la portadora de recetas alquimicas codificadas. Si quieren ver parte de la decodificacion utilizada por el para transferir mitologia griega a recetas de Alquimia, ademas de ejercicios interactivos, hagan click aqui.

Cuando yo era nina -estando en mi ensenanza primaria- recuerdo haber escuchado a la profesora de ciencias decirnos lo que Newton pensaba con respecto a su vida de cientifico... se sentia como un nino que encontro una linda concha a la orilla del mar pero que habian muchas, muchas mas, esperando ser descubiertas al borde del vasto oceano. Ahora entiendo lo que significa esta metafora, cuando nina entendia solo el pedazo de la busqueda de conchas de mar porque eso a mi me encantaba :) ... Cual era la busqueda de este super-genio? Conocer mas acerca del fin del mundo? ... segun sus calculos, el mundo se acabaria en 2060... Eso si, espero que si Newton se equivoco en algo, sea en la prontitud de esta fecha.

Por ultimo, estas palabras homenajeando a Newton ... Nuestras mentes no pueden mas que volcarse hacia este espíritu iluminado que señaló como ningún otro antes o después de él, el camino del pensamiento occidental, su investigación, y su construcción... Saben quien las dijo? otra mente brillante ... Albert Einstein.