Lots of us have nicknames. My fellow science blogger apparently goes by Rob, although at work, he’s strictly Robert. Some of you may even have a pet name for your partner that you’d rather not cop to. But do you have a private name for yourself? According to an interview with historian Bill Newman, Isaac Newton did, and it was awesome — Jehovah Sanctus Unus, or Jehovah, the Great One.

It turns out the man better known for his universal law of gravitation, three laws of motion and mind-blowing intellect was a bit of an oddity. Aren’t we all, Newton? In his spare time, and he didn’t have much because the guy worked way too hard, he pursued alchemy and Arianism. (I’m going to have to save the Arianism stuff for another post).

Alchemy is the idea that you can transform something ordinary into something special, like lead into gold, say.