Let's not forget that the cutting edge of modern science included alchemy at that time : one of the purposes for which the first thermostat was invented was to control alchemical fires.
Or how the "perpetual motion machine" (by the same guy, Cornelis Drebbel) led to barometers and the discovery of atmospheric pressure. (Also connected to astrology because astrologers were the ones making predictions, including of weather.)
I think it's kinda disingenuous to look at people of the past like that. I expect the exact same curiosity for the unknown and intelligence that allowed Isaac Newton to crack calculus was also the driver for him entering alchemy. The only difference looking back is that one was correct and the other wasn't. Something that no one knew for sure at the time. It's like looking back to the stone age and laughing at the cave men "look how stupid they were why don't they just do X".
An often overlooked or unmentioned fact too!
I think its a shame, because it humanizes the (for lack of a better term) smartest people in history to know these things about them.
Yes, Newton invented calculus, but he also tried to turn lead into gold!
So you too, might be able to do something novel, is the idea.