Abstract
Magical natural phenomena, human ingenuity and craftsmanship have evolved into the grand science of chemistry. The story of this process is described through a series of landmark developments: technical chemistry and chemical ideas in the Ancient World, natural philosophy in Ancient Greece, early chemical ideas and technology in Arabia, India and China, the rise of alchemy in Alexandria and its spread to Arabia and subsequently to Europe, the Chinese invention of gunpowder, the growth of alchemy in Europe and the alchemists’ quest to transmute base metals into gold, Michael Sendivogius and his trailblazing alchemical treatise which refocused alchemical investigations onto a new path, the demise of alchemy and its replacement by important new ideas, which were outlined by Robert Boyle during the middle of the seventeenth century.
References
[1] J. A. J. Gowlett. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. 371, 1–12 (2016), https://doi.org/10/1098.rstb.20150164.10.1098/rstb.2015.0164Search in Google Scholar
[2] H. S. Harrison. in A History of Technology. From Ancient Times to Fall of Empires, C. Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall (Eds.), 1, pp. 216–230, Oxford University Press, New York and London (1954).Search in Google Scholar
[3] B. Bunch, A. Hellemans (Eds.). in The Timetables of Technology. A Chronology of the Most Important People and Events in the History of Technology, pp. 1–49, Simon & Schuster, New York (1994).Search in Google Scholar
[4] J. R. Partington. in Origins and Development of Applied Chemistry, p. 86, Longmans Green & Co., London (1935).Search in Google Scholar
[5] R. J. Forbes. Metallurgy in Antiquity, p. 401, E.J. Brill, Leiden (1950).Search in Google Scholar
[6] H. Leicester. The Historical Background of Chemistry, p. 12, Dover publications Inc., New York (1971).Search in Google Scholar
[7] R. J. Forbes. in A History of Technology, C. Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall (Eds.), Vol. 1, pp. 239–298, Oxford University Press, New York and London (1954).Search in Google Scholar
[8] F. Sherwood Taylor. A History of Industrial Chemistry, p. 124, Heinemann, Melbourne, London, Toronto (1957).Search in Google Scholar
[9] N. Eastaugh, V. Walsh, T. Chaplin, R. Siddall. Egyptian Blue. in The Pigment Compendium: Optical Microscopy of Historical Pigments, pp. 147–148, Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, UK (2004).Search in Google Scholar
[10] D. P. Silverman (Ed.). Ancient Egypt, pp. 64–65, Duncan Baird Publishers, London (1997).Search in Google Scholar
[11] J. Jeans. The Growth of Physical Science, p. 55, The University Press, Cambridge (1947).Search in Google Scholar
[12] H. Leicester. in The Historical Background of Chemistry, p. 34, Dover publications Inc, New York (1971).Search in Google Scholar
[13] J. R. Partington. A Short History of Chemistry, p. 20, Macmillan & Co. Ltd., London (1965).Search in Google Scholar
[14] W. H. Brock. The History of Chemistry. A Very Short Introduction, p. 20, Oxford University Press, Oxford (2016).10.1093/actrade/9780198716488.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
[15] H. Leicester. in The Historical Background of Chemistry, p. 40, Dover publications Inc, New York (1971).Search in Google Scholar
[16] Z. Szydlo. in Alchemie. Lexikon einer hermetischen Wissenschaft, C. Preisner, K. Figala (Eds.), pp. 173–176, C.H. Beck, Munich (1998).Search in Google Scholar
[17] J. R. Partington, (With a new introduction by Bert S. Hall). in A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder, p. 287, The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London (1999).Search in Google Scholar
[18] J. Needham. in The Grand Titration. Science and Society in the East and West, George Allen & Unwin, London (1969).Search in Google Scholar
[19] R. Temple. The Genius of China. 3000 years of Science, Discovery and Invention, Simon and Schuster, New York (1986).Search in Google Scholar
[20] R. Tewari. Antiquity 77, 536–544 (2003).10.1017/S0003598X00092590Search in Google Scholar
[21] R. A. Hadfield. Metallurgy and its Influence on Modern Progress, pp. 40–42, Chapman & Hall Ltd., London (1925).Search in Google Scholar
[22] R. Balasubramaniam. Corrosion Sci. 42, 2103–2129 (2000).10.1016/S0010-938X(00)00046-9Search in Google Scholar
[23] J. R. Partington, (With a new Introduction by Bert S. Hall). in A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder, p. 225, The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London (1999).Search in Google Scholar
[24] C. Singer. in A History of Technology. The Mediterranean Civilizations and the Middle Ages, C. Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall (Eds.), Vol. 2, p. 773, Oxford University Press, New York and London (1956).Search in Google Scholar
[25] C. Dampier. A History of Science and its Relations with Philosophy and Religion, pp. 8–9, The University Press, Cambridge (1968).Search in Google Scholar
[26] D. Sachan. Chem. World 19, 32–33 (2022).10.1007/s11298-022-2336-8Search in Google Scholar
[27] P. C. Ray. A History of Hindu Chemistry. From the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century AD with Sanskrit Texts, Variants, Translation and Illustrations, pp. 32–33, Alpha editions, Milton Keynes (2019) (This is a facsimile of a book which was first published in 1903).Search in Google Scholar
[28] P. C. Ray. A History of Hindu Chemistry. From the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century AD with Sanskrit Texts, Variants, Translation and Illustrations, p. 78, Alpha editions, Milton Keynes (2019) (This is a facsimile of a book which was first published in 1903).Search in Google Scholar
[29] L. A. Broussard, R. E. Winecker, J. Ropero-Miller. Lab. Med. 33, 614–625 (2002), https://doi.org/10.1309/5HY1-V3NE-2LFL-P9MT.Search in Google Scholar
[30] J. R. Partington. in A Short History of Chemistry, pp. 31–32, Macmillan & Co. Ltd, London (1965).Search in Google Scholar
[31] J. M. Stillman. The Story of Early Chemistry, pp. 104–112, D. Appleton and Company, New York, London (1924).Search in Google Scholar
[32] H. Leicester. in The Historical Background of Chemistry, pp. 32–33, Dover Publications Inc, New York (1971).Search in Google Scholar
[33] E. J. Holmyard. Alchemy, pp. 89–91, Dover Publications, Inc., New York (1990).Search in Google Scholar
[34] L. M. Principe. The Secrets of Alchemy, pp. 33–35, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London (2013).Search in Google Scholar
[35] R. T. Prinke. in Zwodniczy Ogród Błędów. Piśmiennictwo Alchemiczne do końca XVIII Wieku (The Deceptive Garden of Errors. Alchemical Writings Until the End of the Eighteenth Century), pp. 113–114, Polska Akademia Nauk, Warszawa (2014).Search in Google Scholar
[36] J. R. Partington. in A Short History of Chemistry, p. 29, Macmillan & Co. Ltd, London (1965).Search in Google Scholar
[37] C. J. S. Thompson. in The Lure and Romance of Alchemy, pp. 148, 151, 155. Bell Publishing Company, New York (1990) (This Book was First Published in 1922).Search in Google Scholar
[38] F. Sherwood in The Alchemists, 91, Paladin, Frogmore, St. Albans, Herts, Vol. 91 (1976). (This Book was First Published in 1952).Search in Google Scholar
[39] C. J. S. Thompson. in The Lure and Romance of Alchemy, pp. 153–154. Bell Publishing Company, New York (1990). (This book was first published in 1922).Search in Google Scholar
[40] T. Thomson. in The History of Chemistry, p. 2, Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, London (1830).Search in Google Scholar
[41] W. R. Newman. in Sudhoff Archiv fur die Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaften, 69, pp. 76–90, Franz Steiner, Stuttgart (1985).Search in Google Scholar
[42] J. R. Partington. in A Short History of Chemistry, p. 37, Macmillan & Co. Ltd, London (1965).Search in Google Scholar
[43] J. R. Newmann. ISIS 102, 313–321 (2011).10.1086/660140Search in Google Scholar PubMed
[44] J. R. Partington, (With a new Introduction by Bert S. Hall). in A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder, pp. 69–79, The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London (1999).Search in Google Scholar
[45] J. M. Stillman. in The Story of Early Chemistry, pp. 262–265, Appleton and Company, New York, London (1924).Search in Google Scholar
[46] W. R. Newmann. An overview of Bacon’s Alchemy, in Roger Bacon and the Sciences, J. Hackett (Ed.), pp. 317–336, Brill, Leiden (1997).10.1163/9789004444812_016Search in Google Scholar
[47] L. Thorndike. History of Magic and Experimental Science, pp. 174–175, Columbia University Press, New York, Vol. IV (1934).Search in Google Scholar
[48] W. H. Brock. in The History of Chemistry. A very short Introduction, pp. 24–25, Oxford University Press, Oxford (2016).10.1093/actrade/9780198716488.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
[49] P. Ball. The Devil’s Doctor. Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic and Science, p. 76, William Heinemann, London (2006).Search in Google Scholar
[50] J. M. Stillman. in The Story of early Chemistry, pp. 308–328, D. Appleton and Company, New York, London (1924).Search in Google Scholar
[51] H. Leicester. in The Historical Background of Chemistry, pp. 95–99, Dover Publications Inc, New York (1971).Search in Google Scholar
[52] J. R. Partington. in A Short History of Chemistry, p. 45, Macmillan & Co. Ltd, London (1965).Search in Google Scholar
[53] H. Redgrove, I. M. L. Redgrove. Joannes Baptista van Helmont. Alchemist, Physician and Philosopher, p. 81, William Rider & Son Ltd., London (1922).Search in Google Scholar
[54] J. M. Stillman. in The Story of early Chemistry, pp. 381–386, Appleton and Company, New York, London (1924).Search in Google Scholar
[55] J. Read. Humour and Humanism in Chemistry, p. 92, G.Bell & Sons Ltd, London (1947).Search in Google Scholar
[56] J. R. Partington. in History of Chemistry, 2, pp. 343–348, Macmillan & Co Ltd, London (1961).Search in Google Scholar
[57] Z. Szydlo. Ambix 40, 129–146 (1993).10.1179/amb.1993.40.3.129Search in Google Scholar
[58] Z. Szydlo. The Influence of the Central Nitre Theory of Michael Sendivogius on the Chemical Philosophy of the Seventeenth Century, Ambix 43, 80–97 (1996).10.1179/amb.1996.43.2.80Search in Google Scholar
[59] P. A. Porto. Michael Sendivogius on Nitre and on the Preparation of the Philosophers’ Stone, Ambix 48, 1–16 (2001).10.1179/amb.2001.48.1.1Search in Google Scholar
[60] R. T. Prinke. in Chymia: Science and Nature in Medieval and Early Modern Europe, M. L. Perez, D. Kahn, M. R. Bueno (Eds.), pp. 175–231, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne (2010).Search in Google Scholar
[61] R. T. Prinke. in Alchemy and Rudolph II. Exploring the Secrets of Nature in Central Europe in the 16th and 17th Centuries, I. Purs, V. Karpenko (Eds.), pp. 317–334, Artefactum, Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Praha (2016).Search in Google Scholar
[62] Z. Szydlo. Water Which Does Not Wet Hands. The Alchemy of Michael Sendivogius [1566–1636], pp. 50–51, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa (1994).Search in Google Scholar
[63] R. P. Multhauf. Saltpetre, in The Origins of Chemistry, pp. 328–332, Oldbourne, London (1966).Search in Google Scholar
[64] M. Sendivogius. in A New Light of Alchymie, p. 40, printed by Richard Cotes for Thomas Williams, London (1650).Search in Google Scholar
[65] M. Sendivogius. in A New Light of Alchymie, p. 41, printed by Richard Cotes for Thomas Williams, London (1650).Search in Google Scholar
[66] M. Sendivogius. in A new Light of Alchymie, p. 44, printed by Rochard Cotes for Thomas Williams, London (1650).Search in Google Scholar
[67] Z. Szydlo, R. Brzezinski. A New Light on Alchemy, Hist. Today 47, 17–23 (1997).Search in Google Scholar
[68] R. Boyle. in The Sceptical Chymist with an Introduction by M.M. Pattison Muir, p. 57, J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., London (1911).Search in Google Scholar
[69] R. Boyle. in The Sceptical Chymist, p. 350, printed by F. Cadwell for F. Crooke, London (1661).Search in Google Scholar
[70] H. Leicester. in The Historical Background of Chemistry, p. 115, Dover Publications Inc, New York (1971).Search in Google Scholar
[71] Boyle, R. An historical account of a degradation of gold, London, 1678. Reprinted in T. Birch, The Collected Works of the Honourable Robert Boyle, pp. 15–19, Vols. 5, London, (1744).Search in Google Scholar
[72] J. R. Partington. Sci. Prog. 30, 402–412 (1936).10.1017/S000305540003152XSearch in Google Scholar
© 2022 IUPAC & De Gruyter. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. For more information, please visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- In this issue
- Editorial
- The virtual conference on chemistry and its applications, VCCA-2021, 9–13 August 2021
- Conference papers
- Hexabenzocoronene functionalized with antiaromatic S- and Se-core-modified porphyrins (isophlorins): comparison with the dyad with regular porphyrin
- Bonding analysis of the C2 precursor Me3E–C2–I(Ph)FBF3 (E = C, Si, Ge)
- Supporting the fight against the proliferation of chemical weapons through cheminformatics
- Disinfecting activity of some diphenyltin(IV) benzoate derivative compounds
- HCV genotype-specific drug discovery through structure-based virtual screening
- ExcelAutomat 1.4: generation of supporting information
- Use of Circular Dichroism in the characterization of the fusion protein SARS-CoV-2 S protein (RBD)-hFc
- Experimental determination of activation rate constant and equilibrium constant for bromo substituted succinimide initiators for an atom transfer radical polymerization process
- Degradation of o-, m-, p-cresol isomers using ozone in the presence of V2O5-supported Mn, Fe, and Ni catalysts
- The beginnings of chemistry: from ancient times until 1661
- Chemical substitution in processes for inherently safer design: pros and cons
- Experimental and theoretical study of the dye-sensitized solar cells using Hibiscus sabdariffa plant pigment coupled with polyaniline/graphite counter electrode
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- In this issue
- Editorial
- The virtual conference on chemistry and its applications, VCCA-2021, 9–13 August 2021
- Conference papers
- Hexabenzocoronene functionalized with antiaromatic S- and Se-core-modified porphyrins (isophlorins): comparison with the dyad with regular porphyrin
- Bonding analysis of the C2 precursor Me3E–C2–I(Ph)FBF3 (E = C, Si, Ge)
- Supporting the fight against the proliferation of chemical weapons through cheminformatics
- Disinfecting activity of some diphenyltin(IV) benzoate derivative compounds
- HCV genotype-specific drug discovery through structure-based virtual screening
- ExcelAutomat 1.4: generation of supporting information
- Use of Circular Dichroism in the characterization of the fusion protein SARS-CoV-2 S protein (RBD)-hFc
- Experimental determination of activation rate constant and equilibrium constant for bromo substituted succinimide initiators for an atom transfer radical polymerization process
- Degradation of o-, m-, p-cresol isomers using ozone in the presence of V2O5-supported Mn, Fe, and Ni catalysts
- The beginnings of chemistry: from ancient times until 1661
- Chemical substitution in processes for inherently safer design: pros and cons
- Experimental and theoretical study of the dye-sensitized solar cells using Hibiscus sabdariffa plant pigment coupled with polyaniline/graphite counter electrode