The history of alchemy is traced from its earliest roots through to its influence and use 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, alchemy received a great boost in Europe from studies by Islamic and Jewish alchemists. Their written accounts were translated into Latin and combined with what was known of Greek natural science to produce an outburst of attempts to manipulate matter and change it into transformative substances called the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life.Alchemy's heyday in Europe was the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Demonstrations of the art were performed in royal courts under conditions meant to obviate any fraud, and specimens of the gold so transmuted can be seen in various museums. 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. At the same time laboratory scientists continued to experiment in ways very similar to those of their Medieval and early modern forebears.P.G. Maxwell-Stuart explores the history of alchemy with authority and verve, showing that its study is not one of the odder byways of antiquarianism but a living part of the history of Science itself.
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"The Chemical Choir helps make the arcane and often disrespected activities of alchemy more accessible and meaningful, not only to chemists and other scientists, but also to those interested in history and philosophy. Summing Up: Recommended. All libraries." -R. E. Buntrock, CHOICE, March 2009
About the Author
Dr Peter 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).
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By guthrie
Format:Hardcover
This is one of the newer books on alchemy from a scholarly perspective. It is worth having simply because the author has made use of the preceding 30 to 50 years of research since the staples of information were published.(Holmyard, Sherwood Taylor, Multhauf) Any interested reader can use the references to follow up a topic of interest. But beware; the reference system is badly done, listing the references on a per paragraph basis without it being clear which reference is to which bit of information makes it hard to track down what you want to know.
The bibliography at least is comprehensive, and the structure of the book is alright. But it is a derivative work, an attempt at summarising what is known about alchemy, but in doing so it becomes both too dense and too out of touch with the material. There are a number of errors within it as well, and some of the authors own interpretations are of course not necessarily valid.
Moreover, the sources are too often secondary or lesser quality, and this damages the quality of the work.
Having said all that, someone approaching alchemy for the first time may well give it 4 stars; I'm harder to please because I know much more on the topic.
The bibliography at least is comprehensive, and the structure of the book is alright. But it is a derivative work, an attempt at summarising what is known about alchemy, but in doing so it becomes both too dense and too out of touch with the material. There are a number of errors within it as well, and some of the authors own interpretations are of course not necessarily valid.
Moreover, the sources are too often secondary or lesser quality, and this damages the quality of the work.
Having said all that, someone approaching alchemy for the first time may well give it 4 stars; I'm harder to please because I know much more on the topic.
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A fine review of alchemy and its evolution from early to modern times
15 Dec 2008
By Midwest Book Review
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
New age libraries and any interested in spiritual topics will find THE CHEMICAL CHOIR a fine review of alchemy and its evolution from early to modern times. The history of alchemy embraces changing human legacies and perceptions: chapters cover historical, cultural and religious changes accompanying changing ideas of alchemy and its practices. It's a fine, wide-ranging survey new age collections will welcome.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
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