Reliance began shutting down operations in 2000, and its demise was hastened by the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, officials said at the time.

WSJ: Saul Steinberg 1939 - 2012 | Pioneering Corporate Raider Helped Originate Greenmail

Moreover, the most famous alchemical pursuit, chrysopoeia (the transmutation of base metals into gold), was viewed with a mixture of greed and terror by the political authorities of the time.

ECONOMIST: The twisted history of alchemy: Alchemists, ancient and modern | The

It is not the first time federal officials have ignored fear as an aspect of the war on terror.

ECONOMIST: Letters | The