Control and Quantification in Modern Chemistry

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An amazing proportion of Americans from all walks of life believe in what scientists call "pseudo-science." Very few newspapers, for example, do not carry an astrology column. Timing of significant events in certain Asian countries are determined by astrologers. Even a recent first lady consulted an astrologer in order to find the most propitious timing for state events. While scorned by many scientists, there is a long tradition of interaction among the "pseudo-sciences" and the "real" sciences. Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe both practiced astrology. Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton both practiced alchemy. The research that Drs. Principe and Newman are undertaking examines the relationship between what we now call pseudo-science and the development of "true" science during the scientific revolution. In particular, they are examining the influence of alchemical traditions as practiced in America on the rise of modern chemistry. They are examining the laboratory notebooks of George Starkey, a graduate of Harvard, who undertook experimental testing of alchemical theories. His emphasis on control and quantification became a hallmark of modern chemistry. This research is not aimed to undermine the standards of contemporary science. Rather, its aim is to show how scientific method growing out of pseudosciences can lead to legitimate scientific results if properly pursued. One might wish that current practitioners of astrology would apply the same methods of control and quantification pursued by Starkey and his colleagues. In the long run, the true efficacy of such belief in extra-terrestrial influences on human lives could then be discerned.