Alchemy, Scientific Knowledge, and the Responsibility of Inquiry
1. The Newton We Thought We Knew
Isaac Newton occupies a singular place in the history of modern science. His mathematical formulation of motion and universal gravitation helped transform the study of nature into an increasingly precise and predictive enterprise. The Newton commonly encountered in textbooks is therefore a representative figure of scientific rationality: a thinker whose work established mathematical relations capable of being examined through observation, calculation, and critical argument.
