Alchemy: An Illustrated History of Elixirs, Experiments, and the Birth of Modern Science

by Philip Ball

Flush with hundreds of illustrations, this book revisits the histories of chemistry, medicine, ideas, and culture through the lens of alchemy

The craft of alchemy has intrigued and mystified people since antiquity. Many early cultures are known to have experimented with chemical transformations: from dyes, glazes, and cosmetics in Bronze Age Egypt to life-extending elixirs pursued by scholars in ancient China and India. Many have also attempted to transform lead, mercury, and other metals into gold—and some claim to have succeeded. In this visually stunning volume, Philip Ball sets alchemy within the context of the history of science and culture, showing that it was not simply an esoteric fantasy but an important phase in the development of experimental science and natural philosophy.

Rich illustrations complement a narrative history of the methods and techniques developed in alchemical workshops, the search for the philosopher’s stone and “elixirs of life” that extended across diverse cultures, and the controversies surrounding the practices of making alchemical gold and alchemical medicine. Ball explores the rise of alchemy from its inception in Hellenistic culture, through the golden age of Islamic natural philosophy in the eighth to the eleventh centuries, to the emergence of the tradition of natural magic in the Renaissance, and to the roles of alchemical thought and practice in the beginnings of early modern science in the seventeenth century. He traces the persistence of alchemical ideas through the occult revival of the late nineteenth century and the fascination of the topic for modern artists and writers. This engaging and accessible book will provide readers of all backgrounds with a nuanced understanding of alchemy and its history.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 2, 2025

About the author

Philip Ball (born 1962) is an English science writer. He holds a degree in chemistry from Oxford and a doctorate in physics from Bristol University. He was an editor for the journal Nature for over 10 years. He now writes a regular column in Chemistry World. Ball's most-popular book is the 2004 Critical Mass: How One Things Leads to Another, winner of the 2005 Aventis Prize for Science Books. It examines a wide range of topics including the business cycle, random walks, phase transitions, bifurcation theory, traffic flow, Zipf's law, Small world phenomenon, catastrophe theory, the Prisoner's dilemma. The overall theme is one of applying modern mathematical models to social and economic phenomena.

Reviews

[Chet Taranowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is primarily a coffee table book. The pictures are better than the text.

[Craig Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Major disappointment to me. I'd been hoping for something that dug deeply into the history and culture and legacy of alchemy, especially as interconnecting with depth psychology via Jung. What Alchemy provides is a view from 20,000 feet, touching lightly on some of the major historical figures and trends with a central focus on the quest to make gold and the relationship between alchemy and science. Nothing you couldn't get from wikipedia and really nothing at all about the psychological dimension. What the book does offer (and what earned it a third star) is a whole lot of great illustrations.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting history of alchemy with lots of the paintings and drawings to illustrate the subject.