What has physics got to do with gold?

Answer 1

In the past, people were looking for a way to turn a common and heavy material, lead, into a less common and more useful material, gold. This was called alchemy and under normal conditions is not possible. By studying the elements to figure out a way to make gold cheaply (not knowing the repercussions in an economy of cheaper gold) people (scientists to be) learned more about the world around us. Although they never found a way to do this economically, it lead to a lot of learning and scientists studying the universe for the sake of studying and not to grow rich.