Alchemy

The history of Western alchemy probably begins in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, a great center of Greek learning during the Hellenistic period, a time of Greek cultural expansion and dominance following Alexander the Great's military conquests. Among the most prominent Alexandrian alchemists was Zosimos of Panopolis, Egypt, who may have lived in the third or fourth century A.D.

In accordance with older traditions, Zosimos that a magical ingredient was needed for the creation of gold. Greek alchemists called this ingredient xerion, which is Greek for powder. Through Arabic, this word came into Latin and modern European languages as elixir, and later became known as the elusive "philosopher's stone."

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century, Greek science and philosophy, as well as alchemy, sank into oblivion. In was not until the eleventh century that scholars rediscovered Greek learning, translating Syriac and Arabic manuscripts of Greek scientific and philosophical works into Latin, the universal language of educated Europeans. The pioneers of medieval science, such as Roger Bacon (c.1220-1292), viewed alchemy as a worthwhile intellectual pursuit, and alchemy continued to exert a powerful influence on intellectual life throughout the Middle Ages. However, as in ancient China, alchemists' failure to produce gold eventually provoked skepticism and led to the decline of alchemy.

In the sixteenth century, however, alchemists, frustrated by their fruitless quest for gold, turned to more practical matters, such as the use of alchemy to create medicines.

The greatest representative of this practical alchemy, which provided the basis for the development of chemistry as a science, was the German physician and alchemist Bombast von Hohenheim (known as Paracelsus; 1493-1541), who successfully used chemicals in medicine. Although a follower of magic, astrology, and alchemy, Paracelsus was also an empirical scientist who significantly contributed to the development of medicine.

Although eclipsed by the development of empirical science, alchemy continued as a spiritual counterpart to modern science, which is viewed by some thinkers as too narrow in scope. While alchemy is often defined as "unscientific," great scientists, including Isaac Newton (1643-1727), took it seriously enough to conduct alchemical experiments. In addition, alchemy is credited with laying the foundation of chemistry. Not only did alchemists systematize and classify the knowledge of elements and chemicals, they also made a number of important discoveries, including sal ammoniac, saltpeter, alcohol, and mineral acids. They also developed a number of laboratory techniques, including distillation and crystallization.