4 h 48 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the dream of changing metals holds more than a hunger for gold?
In Alchemy: Ancient and Modern, H. Stanley Redgrove explores a world where work with metals meets philosophy and religious belief. He traces the art through Egypt, Greece and Arabia to the scholars, doctors and dreamers of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. At its heart lies a bold belief: all matter is one.
Redgrove introduces the philosopher's stone, the principles of sulphur and mercury, and thinkers such as Roger Bacon. He also asks whether alchemy concerns substances or the soul. Writing as a chemist, he connects these old questions with discoveries of his own day, when radioactive elements reveal that one element can become another.
What you’ll discover
- The unity of matter Explore the belief that gives the alchemists' search a purpose beyond the pursuit of gold.
- Craft meets philosophy Follow the meeting of metalwork, dyes and glass with Greek thought and older religious ideas.
- The philosopher's stone Encounter this central alchemical idea alongside sulphur and mercury, understood as principles rather than ordinary substances.
- Substances or the soul Consider why some readers see alchemy as a spiritual path rather than work with matter.
- An old dream reconsidered See why discoveries about radioactive elements lead Redgrove to take the ancient ambition seriously.
Who will love it
For readers who love the history of science, curious ideas that were once taken seriously, or the roots of chemistry.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Alchemy began with the idea that matter is one
- The art grew from Egypt, Greece and Arabia
- Sulphur, mercury and the philosopher's stone
- Alchemists were scholars, doctors and dreamers
- Some saw alchemy as a path of the spirit
- Modern science gave the old dream new life
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- 15-minute summary
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- Large print paperback
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Alchimia: antica e moderna
by H. Stanley Redgrove · 1911
The philosopher's stone opens a world where changing metals promises wealth, health and wisdom.
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In short
Alchemy: Ancient and Modern is a short study by H. Stanley Redgrove, a British chemist and writer on the history of science and belief.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Alchemy began with the idea that matter is one
Redgrove starts from a simple claim. Alchemists did not chase gold out of plain greed alone. They held a theory about the nature of matter, and that theory made their goal seem reasonable. If all substances are made from one underlying stuff, then one substance can in principle be changed into another.
This view drew on Greek thought, above all on Aristotle. Aristotle taught that the world is built from four elements, earth, water, air and fire. These elements are not fixed forever. Each is a mix of basic qualities such as hot, cold, wet and dry, and one element can pass into another when its qualities change. Alchemists took this as a licence to think that metals could be changed too.
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What is Alchemy: Ancient and Modern about?
It is a short survey of alchemy by H. Stanley Redgrove. It covers the beliefs, history and famous figures of the art, then compares its ideas with the discoveries about radioactivity and atoms made in the early twentieth century.
What was the philosopher's stone?
In alchemy it was a substance said to turn base metals into gold. Many writers also claimed it could cure disease and lengthen life, so it stood for wealth, health and wisdom at once.
Was alchemy a real science?
Redgrove treats it as an early attempt to explain matter, with real experiments and a reasoned theory. It also held mystics and frauds, so it was never purely science, and it was never purely superstition either.
The author
H. Stanley Redgrove
1887–1943 · English chemist and author
Author and botanical collector.
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