Re: [OT] Re: shuttle disaster
On Tue, Feb 04, 2003 at 10:02:09AM -0800, Paul E Condon wrote:
> Alchemists had three generally accepted goals: the transformation of
> base metals into gold, the discovery of a universal solvent, and the
> discovery of 'the elixir of life' . Like scientists today, they looked
> to the sovereign (the government of the time) for funding for their
> research. In their search for funds, they would let the sovereign
> believe that there was some possibility that their research would yield
> practical results, such as changing real lead into real gold. They did
> not find an exlixir of life. They did not find the universal solvent.
> They did not change real lead into real gold. They lost their funding.
- eventually, having lasted enough centuries for scientific chemistry
to evolve.
> Is there a parallel to alchemy in the modern world?
er... Economists? Everyone has their pet theory, none of 'em work, but
governments seem to think they're the dog's bollocks and employ loads
of them?
Not sure whether to append a :-) or not...
Pigeon
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