In this title, the history of alchemy traced from its earliest roots through to its influence in modern-day science. Beginning in China in the search for the secret of immortality, and appearing independently in Egypt as an attempt to produce gold through the arts of smelting and alloying metals, alchemy received a great boost in Europe from studies by Islamic and Jewish alchemists. Translated into Latin and then combined with what was known of Greek natural science these accounts provoked an outburst of attempts to manipulate matter and to change it into transformative substances known as the Philosopher's Stone or the Elixir of Life. Alchemy's heyday in Europe was the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Demonstrations of the art were performed in royal courts and specimens of the gold so transmuted can be seen in various museums today. During the nineteenth century, attempts were made to amalgamate alchemy with the religious and occult philosophies then growing in popularity; and in the twentieth century psychologists - principally Carl Jung - perceived in alchemy a powerful vehicle for aspects of their theories about human nature.

The history of alchemy traced from its earliest roots through to its influence in modern-day science.

About the Author
Dr PG Maxwell-Stuart is an Honorary Lecturer in the School of History at the University of St Andrews. His many publications include Witchcraft - A History (Tempus 2000)and The Occult in Medieval Europe (Palgrave 2005).

Reviews
"'It breaks down a complex subject - the study of nature through experiments with chemicals - into ten easy-to-read chapters... The reader who has always wondered about alchemy and has not yet read a history of the subject will find The Chemical Choir an entertaining starting point.' (Reviews in History)"



Book Information
ISBN 9781441132970
Author Dr P. G. Maxwell-Stuart
Format Paperback
Page Count 226
Imprint Continuum Publishing Corporation
Publisher Continuum Publishing Corporation
Weight(grams) 344g