Albert the Great

Albertus Magnus. The Compound of Compounds by Albertus Magnus (Albert the Great). rhttp //pwp.netcabo.pt/r. petrinus/compound-e.html. 

Aqua Regia. Geber described the preparation of nitric acid (aqua fortis) in his De inventione veritatis, and added that, if one adds sal ammoniac to this acid it becomes a more powerful solvent (5, 16). Raymond Lully (Raimundo Lulio) and Albert the Great (St. Albert) prepared it in the same way. By the time the writings attributed to Basil Valentine were published, hydrochloric acid (acid of salt) was known, this work describes the preparation of aqua regia by mixing three parts of hydrochloric acid with one part of nitric acid (16,17). J. R. Glauber prepared it from common salt and nitric acid and from saltpeter and hydrochloric acid (18). 

Several Europeans, while not alchemists themselves, contributed to setting the stage for modern chemistry. Albertus Magnus (1200-1280), also known as Albert the Great, played an important role in intro-... 

A description of the composition and principles of the manufacture of black-powder appeared in the works of two of the greatest scientists of the Middle Ages Albertus Magnus (Saint Albert the Great), a Dominican Monk born in Bavarian Swabia near 1200, and Roger Bacon of the Franciscan Order, born, according tradition, about 1214 at Ilchester in Somerset, England. 

Gmelin20 characterizes Lullus as the weakest (schwachste) of the great medieval authorities from Albert the Great to Arnald of Villanova, crediting him nevertheless with certain observations of chemical nature the greater part of these however, as Hoefer later observed, were not new. 

Credit for the actual discovery of arsenic often goes to alchemist Albert the Great (Albertus Magnus, 1193—1280). He heated a common compound of arsenic, orpiment (AS2S3), with soap. Nearly pure arsenic was formed in the process. 

FIGURE 59. Chemist at a still from the Liber Minerdium Alberti Magni, a 1518 text attributed to Albert The Great note the poem above the figure (from The Roy G. Neville Historical Chemical Library, a collection in the Othmer Library, CHF). 

According to Thomas Aquinas, disciple of Albert the Great, Understanding the... 

It is generally accepted that alchemy began in China around 140 BC. In 1144, it appeared in Europe hy way of translations made in Spain from Arabic works Partington asserts that the Arabic name alchemy is merely the Alexandrian-Greek chemeia with the Arabic definite article al prefixed. Both Roger Bacon and Albert the Great (Albertus Magnus) wrote about it in 1250. ... 

According to Thomas Aquinas, disciple of Albert the Great, Understanding reveals higher symbolism of Perceptible Signs rites, symbols, objects, sacramental materials, etc... ... 

The first important European alchemist was Albert of Bollstadt (c. 1200-80), better known as Albertus Magnus ( Albert the Great ). He studied the works of Aristotle intensively, and it was through him that Aristotelian philosophy grew so important to the scholarship of the later Middle Ages and of early modem times. 

Bacon is sometimes credited with having introduced gunpowder to the West, but if it was already used for children s firecrackers, it was already fairly well-known. Albert the Great also mentions it in his writings, and Albert probably obtained his information from the Liber... 

Arsenic is sometimes found in nature in native state and is fairly easily extracted from its compounds. It is not known who was the first to produce elemental arsenic. Usually its discovery is ascribed to the alchemist Albert the Great. Paracelsus described the process of preparing metallic arsenic by the calcination of arsenic with egg-shells. According to some reports, metallic arsenic was known much earlier but it was considered to be a variety of native mercury. This is due to the fact that arsenic sulphide resembles one of mercury minerals and the extraction of arsenic from its ores is rather simple. 

The first mention of nitric acid is in Pseudo-Geber s Inventione Veritatis, wherein it is obtained by calcining a mixture of niter, alum and blue vitriol. It was again described by Albert the Great in the 13th century and by Ramon Lull, who prepared it by heating niter and clay and called it "eau forte" (aqua fortis). 

I do not claim to apply this to particular cases exceeding certain limits, or to those persons who in addition deserve infamy in consequence of their actions. See [Dic article Albert the Great , Remark (D) Sanchez (Thomas) , Remark (C). 

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