Alchemy Tried in the Fire
Winner of the 2005 Pfizer Prize from the History of Science Society.What actually took place in the private laboratory of a mid-seventeenth century alchemist? How did he direct his quest after the…
Specifikacia Alchemy Tried in the Fire
Winner of the 2005 Pfizer Prize from the History of Science Society.What actually took place in the private laboratory of a mid-seventeenth century alchemist? How did he direct his quest after the secrets of Nature? What instruments and theoretical principles did he employ?Using, as their guide, the previously misunderstood interactions between Robert Boyle, widely known as "the father of chemistry," and George Starkey, an alchemist and the most prominent American scientific writer before Benjamin Franklin as their guide, Newman and Principe reveal the hitherto hidden laboratory operations of a famous alchemist and argue that many of the principles and practices characteristic of modern chemistry derive from alchemy. By analyzing Starkey's extraordinary laboratory notebooks, the authors show how this American "chymist" translated the wildly figurative writings of traditional