1 Alchemy, nature Analysis

Helmont Testing, Analysis, and Assaying in Late Medieval Alchemy Alexander Von Suchten and the Sixteenth-Century Synthesis of Chymical Traditions Joan Baptista Van Helmont Art, Nature, and Experiment Conclusions THREE. 

The study of China s alchemical tradition can provide considerable insight into early Chinese medical theory, pharmaco-therapeutic practice and psychosomatic concepts. Chinese alchemy is a complex blending of philosophical, cosmological, physiological and natural scientific thought. This article presents a historical survey and analysis of some important aspects of Chinese alchemical research and theory"... 

One of the greatest members of the Royal Society was Isaac Newton. Newton was elected a Fellow of the Society in 1702 and became its president in 1703, a post he held until his death, in 1727. Newton had already established his power as a scientist with his work on physics and mathematics, demonstrated principally in his famous book Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica, or, more commonly, the Principia. Like Boyle, Newton claimed to be following Baconian method and looked at the universe from a mechanical point of view. Unlike Boyle, Newton was much closer to Gassendi on the nature of matter. His analysis of physics was based in large part on the properties of matter, particularly the property of gravity, which he argued was inherent in anything that contained mass. For many years, Newton s ideas about physics were widely known, but Newton was also very interested in alchemy and believed in transmutation. In part because alchemy was discredited later, this part of Newton s scientific work was not often mentioned by historians, but it is now clear that his alchemical work influenced both his approach to science and his belief in certain properties of matter that were used in his physics. 

It has been known since the days of alchemy that when Hg2Cl2 is treated with aqueous ammonia a black residue is formed, and this reaction is still used in qualitative analysis to identify Hg2Cl2. Only relatively recently has the nature of the reaction been clarified. These residues contain nitrogen compounds of Hg11 plus metallic mercury, and the Hg11 compounds can be... 

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