Alchemy

[Master Fallen]

In the history of science, alchemy refers to both an early form of the investigation of nature and an early philisophical and spiritual discipline, both combining elements of chemistry, metallurgy, physics, medicine, astrology, semiotics, mysticism, spiritualism and art all as parts of one greater force.

The best known goals of the alchemists were the transmutation of common metals into gold (called chrysopoeia) or silver (less well known is plant alchemy, or "spagyric"); the creation of a "panacea or the elixir of life," a remedy that supposedly would cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely; and the discovery of a universal solvent. Although these were not the only uses for the science, they were the ones most documented and well known. Starting with the Middle Ages, European alchemists invested much effort on the search for the "philosopher's stone", a legendary substance that was believed to be an essential ingredient for either or both of those goals. The Philosophers Stone was believed to mystically amplify the user's knowledge of alchemy so much that anything was attainable. Alchemists enjoyed prestige and support through the centuries, though not for their pursuit of those goals, nor the mystic and philosophical speculation that dominates their literature. Rather it was for their mundane contributions to the "chemical" industries of the day—the invention of gunpowder, ore testing and refining, metalworking, production of ink, dyes, paints, and cosmetics, leather tanning, ceramics and glass manufacture, preparation of extracts and liquors, and so on (it seems that the preparation of aqua vitae, the "water of life", was a fairly popular "experiment" among European alchemists).  

[PBSC mulette]

Alexandria

In Aristotle's time, Alexander the Great of Macedon (a kingdom north of Greece) conquered the vast Persian Empire. Alexander's empire broke up after his death in 323 B.C., but Greeks and Macedonians remained in control of large areas of the Middle East. For the next few centuries (the Hellenistic period") there was a fruitful mingling of cultures.

Ptolemy, one of Alexander's generals, established a kingdom in Egypt, with the city of Alexandria (founded by Alexander) as his capital. In Alexandria, Ptolemy and his son (Ptolemy II) established a temple to the Muses (the "Museum") which served as what we would today call a research institution and university. Attached to it, the greatest library of ancient times was built.

Egyptian mastery of applied chemistry met and fused with Greek theory, but the fusion was not entirely to the good. Chemical knowledge in Egypt was intimately connected with the embalming of the dead and with religious ritual. To the Egyptians the ibis-headed god of wisdom, Thoth, was the source of all chemical knowledge. The Greeks, generally impressed by the superior knowledge of the Egyptians, identified Thoth with their own Hermes and accepted much of the mysticism.

The old Ionian philosophers had divorced religion and science. This new union in Egypt seriously interfered with further advance in knowledge.

Because the art of khemeia seemed so closely related to religion, the common people rather feared the practitioners as adepts of the secret arts and as partakers of dangerous knowledge. (The astrologer with his feared knowledge of the future, the chemist with his awesome ability to change substances, even the priest with his hidden secrets concerning the propitiation of the gods and with the ability to call down curses, served as models for folk-tales of magicians, wizards, and sorcerers.)

Those who where the object of these fears did not always resent them, but at times rather encouraged them as increasing their own sense of power, and perhaps their security as well. Who would care to offend a magician, after all?

This public respect or fear encouraged workers in khemeia to couch their writings in mysterious and obscure symbolism. The very obscurity added to the sense of secret knowledge and power.

As an example, there were seven heavenly bodies considered "planets" ("wanderers") because they were continually changing their position with reference to the starry background. There were also seven known metals: gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead, and mercury. It seemed tempting to match them. There came a time when gold would be regularly referred to as "the Sun", silver as "the Moon", copper as "Venus", iron as "Mars", tin as "Jupiter", lead as "Saturn", and mercury as "Mercury". Chemical changes could then be referred to in mythological fashion.

There are still reminders of this time. One rather old-fashioned name for the chemical now called silver nitrate is "lunar caustic", a clear indication of the old connection of silver and the moon. The metal mercury gets its modern name from the planet Mercury. The true ancient name was hydrargyrum ("liquid silver"), and the old English word was the nearly identical "quicksilver".

This more or less deliberate obscurity served two unfortunate purposes. First, it retarded progress since each worker in the field was kept in ignorance, or at least in uncertainty, as to what others were doing, so that no man could profit by another's mistakes or learn from another's brilliance. Secondly, it made it possible for any quack and faker to present himself, provided he spoke obscurely enough, as a serious worker. The knave could not be distinguished from the scholar.

The first important worker in Greek-Egyptian khemeia that we know by name was Bolos of Mendes (c.200 B.C.), a town in the Nile delta. In his writings, he used the name Democritus so that he is referred to as "Bolos-Democritus" or sometimes as the "pseudo-Democritus".

Bolos devoted himself to what became one of the great problems of khemeia, the changing of one metal into another and, particularly, the changing of lead or iron into gold (transmutation).

The four-element theory would make it seem that the various substances of the universe differed only in the nature of the elemental mixture. This hypothesis would be true whether one accepted the atomist view or not, since the elements could mix as atoms or as continuous substance. Indeed, there seemed reason to think that even the elements themselves were interchangeable. Water seemed to turn to air when it evaporated, and the air turned back to water when it rained. Wood, if heated, turned to fire and vapors ( a form of air) and so on.

Why should any change, then, be considered impossible? Surely, it was only a matter of finding the proper technique. A reddish rock could be converted to gray iron through a technique that had not yet been discovered in the time of Achilles, who had to wear bronze armor. Why, then, should not gray iron be further converted to yellow gold by means of some technique that had not yet been discovered in the time of Alexander the Great?

Many chemists throughout the centuries have honestly striven to find the technique for producing gold. Some, however, undoubtedly found it much easier and far more profitable merely to pretend to find the technique and to trade on the power and reputation this gave them. This sort of fakery continued right on into modern times (That is not our focus).

Bolos, in his writings, apparently gave the details of techniques of making gold, but this may not actually have represented fakery. It is possible to alloy copper with the metal zinc, for instance, to form brass, which has the yellow color of gold. It is quite likely that the preparation of gold-colored metal would be the equivalent, to some of the ancient workers, of forming gold itself.

However, the art of khemeia went downhill during Roman times, along with a general decay of Greek learning. After A.D. 100 virtually nothing new was added, and there was a rising tendency to turn to ever-more mystical interpretations of the earlier writers.

About A.D. 300, for instance, an Egyptian-born writer, Zosimus, wrote an encyclopedia of twenty-eight books covering all the knowledge of khemeia that had accumulated in the previous five or six centuries, and there was very little of value in it. To be sure, one can find an occasional passage with something novel in it, like that seeming to refer to arsenic, and Zosimus seems to have described methods for forming lead acetate and to have known the sweet taste of that poisonous compound. (It is called "sugar of lead" to this day.)

The final blow came through fear. The Roman emperor Diocletian actually feared that khemeia might successfully produce cheap gold and destroy the shaky economy of the declining Empire. In Zosimus's time, he ordered writings on khemeia to be destroyed, which is one explanation of why little remains to us.

Another reason is that, with the rising tide of Christianity, "pagan learning" came into disfavor. The Alexandrian Museum and Library were badly damaged as a result of Christian riots after A.D. 400. The art of khemeia, with its close relationship to the ancient Egyptian religion, was particularly suspect and it virtually went underground.

In one respect, Greek learning left the Roman world altogether. Christianity had been broken up into sects, one of them called Nestorians, because they followed the teachings of a Syrian monk, Nestorius, who lived in the fifth century. The Nestorians were persecuted by the orthodox Christians of Constantinople, and a number of them fled eastward into Persia. There the Persian monarchs treated them with great kindness (possibly in the hope of using them against Rome).

The Nestorians brought Greek learning with them to Persia, including many books on alchemy. The peak of their power and influence came about A.D. 550.