We explain what alchemy is, its history, relationship with famous chemistry and alchemists. Also, what is the philosopher's stone.
What is alchemy?
Alchemy is an ancient philosophical discipline and way of thought speculative, proto-scientific type. It was practiced since Antiquity until the 18th century, when it was displaced by the emergence of the chemistry.
Its practice was common in territories as diverse as the old ones Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia, India, China, Greece and Rome, but especially in the Islamic Empire (632-750 AD) and in Europe medieval. It encompassed a vast and complex network of schools and springs over nearly 4,000 years of history.
Alchemy was closely linked with astrology, since ancient man sought a correlation between the affairs of earth and those of heaven, and aspired to learn to manipulate them for his own benefit.
In this sense, the interests of alchemy included those of the modern disciplines of chemistry, metallurgy, physical, medicine and semiotics, but also mysticism and art. It was both a proto-scientific discipline and a spiritual discipline.
The name alchemy comes from the Arabic al-khimiya, from where the word "chemistry" also arose. This Arabic term probably comes from the Greek word khumeia ("Pour together", "weld" or "alloy") or from Persian kimia ("Gold"), since it was a objective common alchemy transform elements ignoble in metals precious, like gold.
Another explanation suggests as the origin of the term the Egyptian voice kême, which was used as the name of Egypt. From there came the oldest texts alchemical "on the art of making gold and silver", in the words of the Roman Emperor Diocletian (244-311), who ordered them to be burned in a decree in 300.
Alchemy had a bad name for much of its history. In some places it used to be the art of deceivers and charlatans, and in medieval Christian Europe it was considered a source of occult knowledge, witchcraft and cabalism.
History of alchemy
Scientists like Al-Biruni developed alchemy in the Islamic world.The history of alchemy is long and spans three different continents: Africa, Asia Y Europe. It is a complex history and many points of intersection and influence, but not easy to trace, since the practitioners of this knowledge were devotees of the language cryptic and symbolic, making his texts particularly hermetic.
Broadly speaking, two large traditions alchemical: the eastern and western.
Eastern alchemy had its origins in China and India. The first was closely linked with Taoism, and has in the body of texts of this ancient religion its largest bibliographic set. It has important coincidences with traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese astrology, and Feng Shui.
Unlike the Western variant, focused on materials, Chinese alchemy was a kind of proto-pharmacology. It is possible that the gunpowder was one of his great discoveries, and the search for the elixir of immortality his great task.
As for the Indian variant of alchemy, it is a much less known tradition, which was defined as "the art of obtaining juice or nectar" (Rasa) of things, the Rasayâna. This was to heal the sick and rejuvenate the old.
His goal was to obtain the moksa: perfection, liberation or immortality. For this reason, it is frequently related to Ayurvedic medicine and other metaphysical traditions.
On the other hand, Western alchemy was born in Egypt, at the beginning of the Hellenic period (c. 300 BC), in the town of Alexandria, where the famous library later arose. It was the result of the hermetic Egyptian heritage (whose central figure was the Hermes Trimegisto, a fusion of the Egyptian Thot and the Greek Hermes).
The Hermetic tradition was reinterpreted in the light of the Greek Pythagorean, Ionist and Gnostic views, which respectively proposed the explanation of the universe from the numbers, the concentration of natural phenomena and the worship of an imperfect cosmos.
To this aspect belongs the theory of the four elements, which saw in all existing matter a variable proportion of earth, air, Water and fire. This tradition was later transmitted to the Roman Empire, where it was practiced until the rise of Christianity, which saw in much of it a set of pagan and heretical knowledge.
Much of the alchemical knowledge was practiced in medieval Europe, during the dark ages. However, after the fall of the Roman Empire, it was the Islamic world where these arts flourished, free from Christian religious persecution.
In fact, it was in the Islamic Empire that medieval alchemy really flourished, adding great contributions to the tradition that was sustained in the texts translated from the Greek of Plato and Aristotle: an important contrast to the West, where many alchemical texts were lost forever.
Later, Islamic alchemy was in charge of reintroducing its knowledge to the West, where it laid the foundations for the subsequent birth of chemistry.
The Philosopher's Stone
One of the most famous common places in the alchemical tradition is that of the Philosopher's Stone. It was a legendary substance whose unique properties made it possible to transmute the metals, that is, convert the lead in gold or silver.
According to other traditions, it also led to immortality or the elixir of rejuvenation. It was the most coveted treasure of alchemists for centuries, and attempts to find it were known as Opus magnum ("Big works").
In the mystical and hermetic language of alchemy, in which symbols abound, the philosopher's stone occupies a central place as an emblem of perfection, enlightenment and enlightenment. happiness heavenly. According to this tradition, the stone was given by God to Adam himself, and was responsible for the longevity of the biblical patriarchs.
Famous alchemists
Some of the most famous alchemists in history were:
- Zosimus of Panopolis (3rd - 4th century BC). Greek alchemist born in Upper Egypt, author of the oldest known alchemical texts, irretrievably lost at some point in history. It is known of its existence thanks to translations into Syrian or Arabic, or by citations in other texts in its original Greek.
- Ge Hong (283 - c.364). Chinese scholar of the early Jin dynasty, he was an alchemist and creator of first aid in traditional Chinese medicine. He was also a Taoist thinker and cultist of martial arts, becoming a central figure in Chinese culture of the time.
- Yabir ibn Hayyan (721-815). Known in the West as Geber, was a Muslim polymath and alchemist, considered the remote founder of chemistry. His identity and the extent of his work are the subject of debate from the 10th century to the present day. The discovery of different chemical substances, since a later alchemist assumed his name as a tribute, being known today as the Italian or Spanish Pseudo-Gerber.
- Al-Razi (c. 865 - c. 925). Physician, philosopher and alchemist of Persian origin, known as Rhazes or Rasis in the West. He was the author of more than 184 texts on medicine, chemistry, and physics, and is credited with discovering the sulfuric acid and ethanol, key components in modern chemistry.
- Al-Biruni (973-1048). Persian thinker, dedicated to alchemy and math, physical, philosophy, pharmaceutical, and also history. He was one of the greatest thinkers in the Islamic world, author of more than 150 texts on various subjects, of which only a fifth survive, unfortunately.
- Nicolas Flamel (c. 1330-1418). Traditionally regarded as the quintessential French alchemist, he was a very wealthy and famous bourgeois who was said to have obtained his wealth through the practice of "hermetic philosophy", that is, alchemy. However, this belief was later disproved, despite the fact that various proto-scientific works were attributed to it in later centuries. Flamel really devoted himself to the public notary and to be a copyist.
- Paracelsus (1493-1541). Swiss alchemist, physician and astrologer, also known as Theophrastus Paracelsus or as Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim. At the time, he was credited with having transmuted lead into gold, but his greatest contributions are actually in the area of pharmacology and toxicology, the latter discipline of which he is considered the founding father. He also gave his name to zinc (zincum).
Alchemy and chemistry
It is striking that al-kîmiya In modern Arabic it is translated "chemistry", evidencing the close link between this scientific discipline and the alchemical tradition. The latter sought to understand the dynamics of materials to transform ("transmute") one into another and obtain not only treasures, but also remedies and potions.
In fact, in the seventeenth century alchemy was considered a science more or less serious. Thinkers of the stature of Isaac Newton devoted huge chunks of their time to its study, as did other early Western scientists.
It could be said that chemistry was born from the appendages of traditional alchemy, thanks to its reinterpretation at the hands of the rationalism. Thus, much more successful results were achieved by applying the scientific method, than insisting on the ancient hermetic tradition.
With the birth of chemistry, alchemy was relegated to a corner of the history of science, or the history of thought. However, it was still more than a century before the formal separation of the two names took place, since until then they were practically synonyms.