Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
familiar to readers of this journal, so here I shall select for mention only
those particular preoccupations that seized the imagination of the medie-
val public and have continued to provide material for fiction, being con-
stantly re-invented and reapplied to claim relevance to contemporary is-
sues or to add a degree of universality to fictional representations of the
scientist.
Among the foundational concepts of alchemy the following have re-
tained an allure that is both theoretically satisfying and appealing to self-
interest.
(a) The notion that all things are interchangeable and exist in a state
of flux. One source for this premise was the Taoist belief, originating in
China in the fifth century BCE, that transformation and change are essen-
tial and innate in all things. In Europe, parallel ideas were put forward by
the philosopher Empedocles and further developed by Aristotle in his
thesis regarding the unity of matter and the interchangeable qualities of
the four elements. The aspect of Aristotle's theory immediately seized
upon was his premise that everything in nature strives towards perfec-
tion. Since gold was considered the most perfect and noble state of mat-
ter, it followed that all baser metals must necessarily 'aspire' to become
gold. This changed a general, theoretical principle into a specific, mate-
rial one, with the added implication of inevitability. The alchemist's task
was simply to assist nature in realizing its goal. In practical terms, this
role had been regularly performed by Egyptian metalworkers who, using
the secret recipes of the goddess Isis, were adept at 'extending' a given
quantity of gold by producing alloys with silver, copper, tin, and zinc.
Thus, from the beginning, alchemy was associated both with the apparent
'production' of gold and, simultaneously, with the suspicion that this was
a deception, a confidence trick practiced on the greedy and the gullible.
In the eighth century these secrets of metallurgy passed to the Arabs
who, through trade with the Chinese, added the idea of a transforming
catalyst, the origin of the Philosopher's Stone, that would enable, or at
least assist, base metals to be transformed into gold. Inevitably such a
catalyst conferred power and subsequently wealth on the alchemist who
claimed to possess it and to have the knowledge necessary to activate it.
(b) The 'elixir of youth', a universal panacea that would cure illness
and prevent ageing, thereby conferring longevity, perhaps even immor-
