Alchemy, Newton, and Newton's Progression

Isaac Newton's lifelong pursuit of alchemy may surprise you. Newton is the father of science and one of the most rational thinkers in history, but he also dedicated enormous amounts of time and energy to the now discredited field of alchemy. Yet, without alchemy we do not have chemistry. Many of the key problems and methods posed by alchemy would lead to the development of chemistry.

We see this repeatedly throughout history. Seemingly frivolous or unproductive experimentation ultimately leading to major breakthroughs.

Packy explores this historical trend in the context of our current markets and offers an optimistic view of where the last decade of seemingly frivolous experimentation and resourcing may take us in the future.

This audio essay is sponsored by Masterworks.