Comment by kijin

Gravity is boring, at least in Newtonian physics. It involves a whole bunch of calculation but not much to experiment with IRL.

Alchemy on the other hand was the perfect hobby for any medieval or early modern nerd. Alchemists were basically trying to hack chemistry together. There was a promise of gold, sprinkled with an air of mystery, with lots of booms and bangs along the way. It must have felt like Dungeons and Dragons.