Was Isaac Newton an Astrologer?
There is this professor Robert van Gent, from the University of Utrecht in Holland, who has spent a lot of time researching whether Isaac Newton, voted the greatest contributor to science, was an astrologer or not.
On his web page, https://www.staff.science.uu.nl/~gent0113/astrology/newton.htm, he tabulates the percentages of time Newton spent on different disciplines: Among the 1752 books with identifiable titles on this list, no less than 477 (27.2%) were on the subject of theology, 169 (9.6%) on alchemy, 126 (7.2%) on mathematics, 52 (3.0%) on physics and only 33 (1.9%) on astronomy. Surprisingly, Newton’s books on the disciplines on which his scientific fame rests amount to no more than 12% of his library. According to Wikipedia, "Of an estimated ten million words of writing in Newton's papers, about one million deal with alchemy". Also, "In the character of Morton Opperly in "Poor Superman" (1951), speculative fiction author Fritz Leiber says of Newton, "Everyone knows Newton as the great scientist. Few remember that he spent half his life muddling with alchemy, looking for the philosopher's stone. That was the pebble by the seashore he really wanted to find." "Newton built the first practical reflecting telescope. He investigated and demonstrated the refraction of light. He used the methods of calculus to solve the problem of planetary motion, the shape of the surface of a rotating fluid, the oblateness of the earth, the motion of a weight sliding on a cycloid, and many other problems discussed in his Principia Mathematica (1687). In addition to his work on calculus, as a mathematician Newton contributed to the study of power series, generalised the binomial theorem to non-integer exponents, developed a method for approximating the roots of a function, and classified most of the cubic plane curves. In his Hypothesis of Light of 1675, Newton posited the existence of the ether to transmit forces between particles. The contact with the Cambridge Platonist philosopher Henry More revived his interest in alchemy. He replaced the ether with occult forces based on Hermetic ideas of attraction and repulsion between particles. John Maynard Keynes, who acquired many of Newton's writings on alchemy, stated that "Newton was not the first of the age of reason: He was the last of the magicians." Newton's interest in alchemy cannot be isolated from his contributions to science. This was at a time when there was no clear distinction between alchemy and science. Had he not relied on the occult idea of action at a distance, across a vacuum, he might not have developed his theory of gravity." Let's just say he is deserving of the title many have attributed to him, the greatest scientist ever. It is unlikely that he would have written hundreds of papers, a "million words", about a subject he knew little about, its origins and principles. Here's the rub: alchemy is strongly based on astrological principles. If you don't believe this, please research it for yourself. This document will help get you started: https://www.academia.edu/5317837/Chemistry_That_Starry_Science_-_Early_Modern_Conjunctions_of_Astrology_and_Alchemy It is unlikely that a master chef knows little about food. What is an astrologer? Someone who 'practises' astrology, or someone who has spent a considerable amount of time studying astrology and uses it? The truth is, there is little difference. Newton was an astrologer. Van Gent says "There are of course several references to astrology in Newton’s writings regarding alchemy and biblical chronology but none of these support the claim that Newton had an interest in traditional or judicial astrology." Granted. There are many branches of astrology, which include 'natural', or traditional astrology, mundane, medical, horary, elective, and predictive, or judicial astrology. Just because Newton focused on certain areas of astrology, it did not make him any less of an astrologer.
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