Europe 6, 9 alchemy

Karpenko, Vladimir. Central Europe alchemy in the late Renaissance. Acta Historiae Rerum Naturalium necnon Technicarum new series 1 (1997) 195-203. 

Alchemy was developed in Europe in the medieval age and it founded the origin of modern chemistry [1]. The brilliantly shining color and the almost perfect chemical inertness of gold has attracted men and women as a S5m-bol of eternal power and beauty. It is therefore reasonable that so many people dreamed to produce gold artificially. Even Newton was deeply involved in the chemical S5m-thesis of gold [2]. 

Newman, William Royall and Anthony Grafton, eds.Secrets of nature astrology and alchemy in early modem Europe. Cambridge (MA) MIT Press, 2001. 443p. 

A reassessment of Bacon s role in the history of alchemy, which has been exaggerated by many modern scholars. The author concludes that Bacon s formulation of the relationship between alchemy and the elixir and Christian morality and salvation is an important link between the ancient soteriological tradition of alchemy and the first blossoming of the Art in Europe during the 14th century"... 

Figala, Karin and Ulrich Petzold. "Alchemy in the Newtonian circle personal acquaintances and the problem of the late phase of Isaac Newton s alchemy." In Renaissance and revolution Humanists, scholars, craftsmen and natural philosophers in early modern Europe, eds. J.V. Field and Frank A.J.L. James, 173-191. Cambridge Cambridge Univ P, 1997. 

Nummedal, Tara E. "Practical alchemy and commercial exchange in the Holy Roman Empire." In Merchants and marvels commerce and the representation of Nature in early modern Europe, eds. Paula Findlen and Pamela H. Smith, 201-222. New York Routledge, 2002. 

Debus, Allen George. "Alchemy in an age of reason the chemical philosophers in early 18th century France." In Hermeticism and the Renaissance intellectual history and the occult in early modern Europe, eds. Ingrid Merkel and Allen George Debus, 231-250. Washington (DC) Folger Shakespeare Library, 1988. 

Crisciani, Chiari. "From the laboratory to the library alchemy according to Guglielmo Fabri." In Natural particulars nature and the disciplines in Renaissance Europe, 295-319. Cambridge (MA) MIT Press, 1999. 

While no book on the subject could be exhaustive, The Bathhouse at Midnight does describe and assess all the literary sources of magic, witchcraft, astrology, alchemy, and divination from Kiev Rus and Imperial Russia, and to some extent Ukraine and Belorussia. Where possible, Ryan identifies the sources of the texts (usually Greek, Arabic, or West European) and makes parallels to other cultures, ranging from classical antiquity to Finnic. He finds that Russia shares most of its magic and divination with the rest of Europe... 

This review outlines aspects of the various phases of Swiss chemistry from the introduction of alchemy in Western Europe, its transition to chemistry as a science and profession and the more recent practice. Attention is drawn to the large number of Swiss Nobel Laureates in chemistry and the contributions of Swiss physicists to chemical spectroscopy, from the days of Balmer. In all periods, Swiss chemistry has had European dimensions, and links can be traced to most host countries of previous Euroanalysis conferences and indeed to the next, at Lisbon, in AD 2000... 

Torres, Marcos Martinon- and Thilo Rehren. Alchemy, chemistry or metallurgy all of them, fire assay in Renaissance Europe. Der Anschnitt. 

Kren, Claudia. Alchemy in Europe a guide to research. New York, London Garland Publishing, 1990. xiii, 130p ISBN 0-82408-538-8... 

Traces the origins of ritual magic in the West, and its perilous coexistence with witchcraft, black magic and orthodox religion in the days when alchemy, astrology, and the Kabalah formed a powerful undercurrent in the whole intellectual life of Western Europe"... 

Introduces a Variety of Western Esoteric Belief Systems, Such As Gnosticism, Alchemy, and Theosophy, and the Cults That Practice These Belief Systems. Focuses on Witchcraft Activities and Their Prevalence in Western Society From the 13th Century to the Present. Concludes with a Discussion of Methodological and Theoretical Approaches to the Study of the Occult and the Causes for Its Recent Resurgence in the United States and Europe... 

Wilt, J. Transmutations from alchemy to history in Quentin Durward and Anne of Geierstein. Europ Romantic Rev 13, no. 3 (2002) 249-260. 

In the first of a projected trilogy, Stephenson explores alchemy as one of the roots of mathematics and computers. With the ancestors of characters appearing in Cryptonomicon (Stephenson s previous novel), this literary adventure traverses Europe of the 1700s, with stops in the laboratories of some of the most famous scientists of the day, while in a separate timeline set one hundred years earlier, a drifter attempts to help a young woman exact revenge against her former captors... 

A historical novel based on the life of the very real Italian occultist, 1743-1795, who was a self-styled mystic, healer, leader of an exotic brand of Freemasonry was arrested for heresy in 1791 on the order of Pope Pius VI and spent the last five years of his life in prison. Count Alessandro Cagliostro s real name was Giuseppe Balsamo. Born in Palermo in 1743, he studied alchemy and sold elixirs and potions all over Europe, and became the rage of Paris society as they flocked to his Seances. He became implicated in the "Affair of the Diamond Necklace" in 1785-6 and was banished from France. 

The transition of empirical alchemy in 18th century Europe to scientific chemistry allowed the discovery of more and more new elements through the thirst for knowledge, intuition, patience, and even luck. Known materials such as gold, silver, copper, iron, and lead were "suspected" to be elements relatively early. Despite all the best efforts, these materials could not be broken down into further components, and hence their being elements was consistent with the then generally recognized definition of John Dalton, which was also staunchly supported by Antoine de Lavoisier. 

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