Alchemy

by E.J. Holmyard

From Taoist China and medieval Islam to the European Renaissance, chemists, saints and charlatans spent their lives on history's strangest anf most compelling search - the quest for the Philosopher's Stone 'which turneth all to gold'. Like astrology and witchcraft, alchemy was an integral part of the pre-scientific moral order, arousing the cupidity of princes, the blind fear of mobs and the intelluctal curiosity of Aquinas and Newton. As a protection against persecution, alchemists often described their practices in enigmatic, allegorical language: and their research soon acquired a profound mystical significance and religious symbolism.

In this study of two thousand colourful years of naked greed, power politics. paintstaking research and mystical experience, the late Chairman of the Society for the Study of Alchemy and Early Chemistry describes the ideas and methods of alchemists through the ages, and shows how their hopes were eroded by the gradual growth of a scientific method to which they themselves unwittingly contributed.

Unknown Binding

About the author

Eric John Holmyard was a historian of science and technology with a focus on chemistry and alchemy. He taught science at Clifton College (England), was a member of the Royal Asiatic Society and served as the founding editor of the journal Endeavour.