[caption id="attachment_12363" align="aligncenter" width="320"] Dr Alexander Thorkel (played by Albert Dekker) from from the movie "Dr. Cyclops" (1940)[/caption] Although many scientists are loathe to admit it, the basics of what is known as "the scientific method"—essentially the ability to reproduce experimental results under identical conditions—were based on the practices of magicians and medieval alchemists. Sir Isaac Newton, who codified modern physics, wrote more on alchemy and religion than he did on physics. Most of the founders of modern astronomy saw the observation of the skies as a minor part of what really consumed them, astrology. Looking at the records of the