Alchemy: History of Science #10
In fantasy stories, charlatans in fancy robes promise to turn lead into gold. But real alchemists weren't just mystical misers. They were skilled experimentalists, ...
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These days, alchemy gets a bad rap. In fantasy stories, charlatans in fancy robes promise to turn lead into gold. But real alchemists weren’t just mystical misers. They were skilled experimentalists, backed by theories of matter. And they played a huge role in the development of knowledge about one of our fundamental questions: “what is stuff?” Do chemists today spend a lot of time trying to turn lead into gold? No—but, in part they are the inheritors of a wealth of knowledge created by alchemists who were trying to turn lead into gold! Why did they keep doing that? Did they really think it would work? Was it some science experiment? Or a religious ritual? Yes! All of those things. Today, we’ll meet some alchemists and consider just what the heck they were doing all d...
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These days, alchemy gets a bad rap. In fantasy stories, charlatans in fancy robes promise to turn lead into gold. But real alchemists weren’t just mystical misers. They were skilled experimentalists, backed by theories of matter. And they played a huge role in the development of knowledge about one of our fundamental questions: “what is stuff?” Do chemists today spend a lot of time trying to turn lead into gold? No—but, in part they are the inheritors of a wealth of knowledge created by alchemists who were trying to turn lead into gold! Why did they keep doing that? Did they really think it would work? Was it some science experiment? Or a religious ritual? Yes! All of those things. Today, we’ll meet some alchemists and consider just what the heck they were doing all d...
