The practice of chemistry during the Middle Ages associated with magic, the transmutation of base metals into gold, and the development of an elixir for immortality.<\/p>\n
Derived from the Arabic al-kimia, the Egyptian art that strove to change substances from the known and commonplace to something other in the attempt to uncover universal secrets. It began in ancient China and was practiced in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe for millennia until it gave way to modern science about 400 years ago. It was based originally on the idea that everything was made up of four elements earth, air, fire, and water mixed in different proportions in different substances; changing their proportions would change the substance, also known as transmutation. Medieval alchemists searched to uncover the following universal secrets: (1) the elixir of life, which would confer immortality; (2) the panacea, which would cure all ills; (3) the philosopher\u2019s stone, which would turn base metals into gold; and (4) the alkahest, which would melt anything and be very useful in experiments and also in war.<\/p>\n
Although regarded with some disdain today, the work of the experimental alchemists should not be dismissed lightly. In their searches they heated, pounded, mixed and tested everything they could find and in doing so discovered much about many different materials; they established many of the chemical processes distillation, fusion, calcination, solution, sublimation, putrefaction, fermentation that we take for granted today. They accumulated expertise and knowledge that formed the basis for much of today\u2019s chemistry. They paved the way for much of today\u2019s science, including the transmutation of elements.<\/p>\n
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The practice of chemistry during the Middle Ages associated with magic, the transmutation of base metals into gold, and the development of an elixir for immortality. Derived from the Arabic al-kimia, the Egyptian art that strove to change substances from the known and commonplace to something other in the attempt to uncover universal secrets. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a"],"yoast_head":"\n