Newton's Principia: Physics, Alchemy, and the Man

Isaac Newton wrote more about theology and alchemy than he ever wrote about physics. He chased the philosopher's stone for thirty years. He calculated the date of the Apocalypse. He may have been bipolar and almost certainly never had sex. He also published the Principia in 1687, the book that gave us calculus, the three laws of motion, and universal gravitation. The contradiction IS the episode. Science and religion did not separate cleanly in 1687. The man who built modern physics also wrote tens of thousands of pages on biblical prophecy. In this episode we cover Newton's miracle years during the plague, the Hooke feud, the calculus war with Leibniz, the alchemy manuscripts, the apocalypse calculations, and why every bridge, satellite, and spacecraft still runs on equations from a man who thought the world was 6,000 years old. ▶ Watch next: How Science Got Its Rules: The Royal Society, Peer Review, and the Birth of Modern Research https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcVwt-p14cM 📺 Full playlist: The Great Discoveries: How Science Built the Modern World https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlIAFxS2964-3v5fFwk4loCBPCYUW-8kY Chapters: 0:00 The Man Behind the Myth 4:21 The Miracle Years: Plague, Isolation, and a Falling Apple 9:05 The Principia: Three Books That Remade Reality 13:11 The Three Laws and What They Actually Mean 17:49 The Hooke Feud: How Newton Erased a Rival 22:02 Alchemy, Theology, and the Apocalypse Calculations 26:28 The Calculus War: Newton Versus Leibniz 30:58 Why the Textbook Version Gets Him Wrong 35:46 Quiz Time 38:30 Key Takeaways #explained #learn #2026 --- Disclosure The avatars and voices in this video are AI-generated. All content -- research, scripts, lesson design, and the custom video engine -- is created by a CISSP, CISM, and PMP certified professional with a Master's in Project Management, a B.S. in Information Technology, and a Doctorate in Business Administration in progress. This channel exists to make learning accessible and straightforward. Educational history-of-science series. This channel does not represent any university, research institution, or scientific body. The series presents the historical record of how scientific ideas were discovered, contested, and refined — including the mistakes, the politics, and the people who paid for being right too early. Where science and other domains intersect (religion, ethics, public policy), the series presents the arguments without endorsing a position.