Medieval ages

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]. 

Saeed, Aftab. Study of Muslim alchemy in the medieval ages and some valuable chemicals transmitted to modem chemistry. Indian J Hist Sci 27 (1992) 261-278. 

Barbara Tuchman (in 1978) wrote in A Distant Mirror the Calamitous 14th Century that Of all the characteristics in which the medieval age differs from the modern, none... 

Like arsenic salts, the history of antimony compounds as therapeutic agents dates back to medieval age when Paracelus (1493-1541) recommended metallic antimony and its salts as a cure for many diseases. Although the above panacea made Paracelsus the father of iatrochemistry, the therapy was later rejected by patients due to toxic effects [1,9]. The interest in antimony compounds revived during 1918-1920 when the medicinal value of tartar emetic (10), a mordant prepared in 1847 by boiling antimony trioxide and cream of tartar in water [14], was established by Christopherson [15] and Rogers [16]. 

Most historians divide the Indian historical scene into several different ages or periods. These periods include the Pre-Vedic Age—all of the time prior to 1500 B.C., the Vedic Age from 1500-600 B.C., the Classic Period from 600-1200 A.D., the Medieval Age from 1200 A.D. to the end of the 18th century, the British Period through most of the 19th century, the Pre-Independence Period from 1900 to about 1947 and the Post-Independence Period from that time on. 

Alchemical theories are central to the middle ages and the Renaissance. Chaucer and Shakespeare were heavily steeped in the subject, and it still exerts a fascination today. This is a scholarly and accessible introduction to Western European alchemy, and to the iconography of Alchemical works from antiquity to the rise of chemistry. It includes an illustrated glossary of Alchemical terms and biographies of major alchemists. It is intended for students of medieval and Renaissance art, literature and history art historians and anyone with a general interest in the history and principles of alchemy or medieval culture... 

Hughes, Jonathan. "Alchemy and the exploration of late medieval sexuality." In Medieval virginities (Religion culture in the Middle Ages), eds. Anke Bemau, Ruth Evans and Sarah Salih, 140-166. Cardiff Univ of Wales P, 2003. 

During the Golden Age of Islam (7th through the 17th century) Muslim philosophers and poets, artists and scientists, princes and laborers created a unique culture that has influenced societies on every continent. Here documentary writer Howard Turner offers a fully illustrated, highly accessible introduction to the scientific achievements of medieval Islam. Howard Turner opens with a historical overview of the spread of Islamic civilization from the Arabian peninsula eastward to India and westward across northern... 

Cambridge medieval history. Vol VIII The close of the Middle Ages. Cambridge Cambridge Univ P, 1936. 1079p. 

Lewis, Clive Staples. "Imagination and thought in the Middle Ages." In Studies in medieval and renaissance literature, ed. Clive Staples Lewis. Cambridge Cambridge Univ P, 1966. 

Appelbaum, Stanley, ed.Medieval tales and stories 108 prose narratives of the Middle Ages / selected and translated by Stanley Appelbaum. Mineola (NY) Dover, 2000. xvi, 244 p... 

In the early years of Theosophy during Blavatsky s lifetime, the modem science that most occupied the movement was, without doubt, the theory of evolution rather than Victorian discoveries in physics and chemistry.4 While Blavatksy in Isis Unveiled and Secret Doctrine grappled in a limited way with modem physics and chemistry, she engaged much more fully with the work of alchemists, especially that of Paracelsus. Her defense of alchemical transmutation was based not upon contemporary science—though she asked of transmutation, Is the idea so absurd as to be totally unworthy of consideration in this age of chemical discovery (Isis 1 503)—but rather upon the exalted reputation of medieval and early modem scientists and alchemists who claimed to have witnessed transmutation (1 503-504). Moreover, the major events that launched modem particle physics—the discoveries of X-rays, the electron, radiation, radium, and radioactive decay—all occurred after Blavatsky died in 1891. 

Grey, D. C., Damon, P. E., Scientific Methods in Medieval Archaeology, Sunspots and radiocarbon dating in Middle Ages,... 

The age of the cloth was ascertained in 1988 when the Vatican (which has jurisdiction over Turin Cathedral) allowed a small piece of the cloth to be analysed by radiocarbon dating. By this means, the shroud was found to date from ad 1320 65. Even after taking account of the uncertainty of 65 years, the age of the shroud is consistent with the idea of a medieval forgery. It cannot be genuine. 

Richards, M.P., Mays, S. and Fuller, B.T. (2002). Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values of bone and teeth reflect weaning age at the Medieval Wharram Percy site, Yorkshire UK. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 119 205-210. 

Historically, divisions of the sciences evolved with the establishment of European universities during the Late Middle Ages. The medieval perception made clear distinctions between theology and physics, and even between terrestrial and celestial physics. Furthermore, it separated the mathematical sciences from natural philosophy and metaphysics. Institutional divisions separated the elevated sciences (which were based on philosophical principles) from the intellectually inferior arts (which were based on the various domains of craftsmanship). Interestingly, mathematics was considered at that time to be a craft and therefore unfit for explaining natural phenomena. 

Since most chemists, biochemists, and chemical engineers are now involved in some phase of polymer science or technology, some have called this the polymer age. Actually, we have always lived in a polymer age. The ancient Greeks classified all matter as animal, vegetable, and mineral. Minerals were emphasized by the alchemists, but medieval artisans emphasized animal and vegetable matter. All are largely polymeric and are important to life as we know it. 

Figure 3.5 Pentacles from a medieval grimoire bear the the names of the angels associated with each of the seven planets. (Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages [1995])...

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