Alchemy

This is a subject that I am very interested in because I worked as a chemist for my entire working career.

The reason that this is considered a conspiracy is because notables such as Tycho Brahe Isaac Newton, Augustus and Thomas Aquinas practiced what was considered a dark (think devil here) art of alchemy, which was often associated with magic, occult, astrology, and witchcraft. Queen Elizabeth I also consulted with alchemists. Pope Clement IV also employed alchemists. Roger Bacon wrote his 'Opus Majus' for Clement. All this proves that at one time alchemy enjoyed a golden period of discovery. By the end of the 13th century it enjoyed an accepted status. However, by the 14th century, the practice was frowned upon. Pope John XXII issued an edict in 1317 condemning it, and in 1403 King Henry IV banned the practice.

Alchemy has a long history and is still practiced today. Basically, an alchemist is someone who practices a proto-scientific practice in the hopes of turning base metals into gold, which is often associated with the discovery of the Philosopher's Stone. This legendary substance was believed to change base metals into gold. Effort to find the Philosopher's Stone is known as the Magnum Opus or Great Work. This idea goes back a long way to Greek philosophy. It's said that knowledge of the stone goes back to Adam, who obtained it from eating the forbidden fruit. Obviously, this stone had many magical and spiritual properties attributed to it.

Surprising to me, this dark art was practiced not only in Europe but also in the Far East and Muslim worlds. The one thing that you can say about alchemy is that it led to the true science of chemistry. Along the way to attempting to create gold from base metals, alchemists discovered a lot of chemicals and processes for converting them into new substances.

The word 'Alchemy' comes ultimately from the Greek word chēmía, which is what they called Egypt. This led to the Arabic word 'al-kīmiyā' that meant 'philosophers' stone'. Medieval Latin called it alchymia and the French called it alquemie. All of this illustrates how ancient and wide spread the practice was.

In Europe the practice is said to have begun in 1144 when Robert Chester translated the 'Arabic Book of Composition of Alchemy'.
Of course, the main premise of alchemy was never realized. Base metals cannot be transformed to gold using chemical means. The main benefit of alchemy was as a precursor to chemistry, a modern science that became dominant by the 17th century. A lot of alchemy was cloaked in magic and spells. It was more of a paranormal enterprise rather than a true science. True science was once called Natural Philosophy, distinguishing it from Philosophy, which is purely a mental exercise. All of the conspiracy and mystery connected to alchemy was overblown. There was no magic in it, other than the wonders of nature.

What exactly does a chemist do? Well, a chemist deals with substances. A substance is a chemical compound made up from atoms attached together in a particular arrangement. Salt, sugar, water, Iron oxide, rubber, and propane are common substances. A chemist's job is to find a method of changing the chemical structure of substances (chemicals) into a different and often new molecular structure (the arrangement of atoms in the molecule that makes up a substance). There are many ways to do this, including heat, electrolysis, and radiation. Basically, a chemist must supply enough energy to the substance or mixture of substances to cause the chemical reaction. A chemical reaction occurs when the molecular arrangement of a substance or substances is changed. This could involve addition of atoms or groups of atoms, or breaking of chemical bonds to cause a new atomic arrangements. A lot of a chemist's work involves purification of a substance synthesized by reacting two or more chemical substances together. This is done by distillation, sublimation and crystallization. Chemists have one advantage in that they can determine the molecular structure of a substance and have theories as to how substances can react to form new substances. Alchemists were not aware of these technologies.

Chemistry is what the alchemists did, but they often didn't know what was actually going on. They were unaware of the chemical structures of substances and how they changed upon heating. They often used tricks to make it look as if they had changed a base metal into gold by using gold plating methods. Gold salts will plate on base metals such as zinc and mercury. It looked good but was only a very thin plating, not solid gold. I once used this idea to make a better (more durable) photographic image on paper and metal.

The bottom line is that alchemy led to chemistry, a science that has transformed our lives in so many ways.

Thanks for reading.