Monday mirthiness the alchemy of climate change

Abstract

For thousands of years, some of the most intelligent men alive sought such things as the Philosopher’s Stone, which could turn dross into precious metal; the elixir of immortality; and the alkahest or universal solvent. The searches were in vain. The world needed more than a magic wand. There is nothing inherently wrong in belief. Belief is only a hypothesis in search of a demonstration. The history of science is replete with the beliefs of great, wise men who struggled to understand Nature. Aristotle’s four elements, re, earth, water and air, ruled chemistry and medicine for thousands of years. Eventually, careful measurements showed that re had no mass, that earth was composed of elements, that life did not spring from water, and that air was a mixture, not a substance in its own right. Alchemy was universal. Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Jew all pursued it.