Although alchemy tends to be popularly reduced to the quest to turn base metals into gold, it was based on a far more complex blend of occultism, natural philosophy, chemistry, and metal working.

Alchemy, the precursor to chemistry, served two purposes: gold-making and medicine making. Alchemists who focused on the creation of gold attempted through experimentation to make it from less ...

Was he purposely tricking the crowd? Before answering these queries, it’s important to note the roots and main philosophies of alchemy, a mediaeval precursor to modern chemistry. The alchemists were ...

This collection of links explores the history of alchemy, the connection of alchemy to modern day chemistry, and some fun activities to experience a taste of the alchemist’s life. This activity is ...

The idea dominated science until the late 18th century, when revolutionaries from rival nations transformed chemistry from a jumble of medieval alchemy into a true science. The pace of discovery ...

Modern chemistry began to emerge from alchemy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, thanks to scholars such as Boyle and Lavoisier, leading to rapid advances in the following two centuries.

before the local sections of the Institute of Chemistry and the Society of Chemical Industry, Prof. John Read of the University of St. Andrews gave an account of alchemy in Scotland. James IV of ...

The Group exists to encourage an interest in the history of chemistry and chemical industry among members of the RSC and others. The Group maintains contact with the Society for the History of Alchemy ...