![]() It is clear why alchemy was doomed to fail: it was based on a misunderstanding of basic chemistry and physics. The Latin text - whose title translates to "Preparation of the Mercury for the Stone by the Antimonial Stellate Regulus of Mars and Luna from the Manuscripts of the American Philosopher" - will be available online for those interested to peruse. Curator of rare books at the Chemical Heritage Foundation, James Voelkel said the text was likely copied from an American chemist named George Starkey. Buried in a private collection for decades, the manuscript detailed how to make "philosophic" mercury, thought to be a step toward making the philosopher's stone - a magical substance thought to have the ability to turn any metal into gold and give eternal life. In March 2016, the Chemical Heritage Foundation bought a 17th-century alchemy manuscript written by Newton. For instance, Isaac Newton, best known for his study of gravity and his laws of motion, also wrote more than a million words of alchemical notes throughout his lifetime, historians have estimated. Early investigators of natural processes centered their search on a mythical substance they knew as philosopher's stone, which was supposed to possess many valuable attributes such as the power to heal, to prolong life, and to change base metals into precious metal - such as gold." (This "philosopher's stone" was not a literal stone but instead a wax, liquid, or powder that held magical powers.)Īlchemy shows up in some odd places. ![]() To the alchemists, metals were not the unique substances that populate the Periodic Table, but instead the same thing in different stages of development or refinement on their way to spiritual perfection.Īs James Randi notes in his "Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural," "Beginning about the year 100 and reaching its flower in medieval times, alchemy was an art based partly upon experimentation and partly upon magic. When a base, or common, metal such as lead was found, it was thought to simply be a spiritually and physically immature form of higher metals such as gold. Alchemy was rooted in a complex spiritual worldview in which everything around us contains a sort of universal spirit, and metals were believed not only to be alive but also to grow inside the Earth.
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