So much chemistry came from imaginary interpretations of sometimes-unobservable phenomena, which were refined over generations, validating truths and invalidationg untruths, by further excursions of the imagination.
Theosophy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosophy) was a religious movement founded by westerners who were thoroughly captivated (but totally confused in hindsight) by Hindu/Buddhist philosophies. An attempt was made to draw parallels between these philosophies and western science by some of their main proponents of which these two people were leading lights and the submitted article points to some of their collaborative work. Of course with our much better understanding of Modern Science and Hindu/Buddhist philosophies today, their work seems silly and outlandish but is of some historical interest.
I'm familiar with theosophy & Madam Helena Blavatsky, Aleister Crowley, and how loads of people in the early 20th century loved them some occult secret societies and all that jazz. But I read a little bit of this and couldn't make heads or tails of it, nor why it would be of interest on Hacker News.
It’s remarkable how Krishnamurti turned out to be so grounded despite being raised amidst such kookiness. To be filed with other 19th-Century nonsense like homeopathy, Marxism, Freudian psychoanalysis, osteopathy, etc.
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