Transmutation histories

On transmutation histories, see William R. Newman, Gehennical Fire ... 

The author traces the positions that writers of histories of chemistry took toward alchemy as a total phenomenon, how they regarded the experimental-practical and philosophicoreligious components of it and what stand-points they adopted relative to such alchemical theories as the doctrine of transmutation and the sulfur-mercury theory... 

Alicke, Walter. From alchemy to atoms Part 1. The alchemist s dream of transmutation Part 2 The foundations of modem chemistry. A fine collection of rare books illustrating the history of chemistry from alchemy to the end of the 19th century. Catalogues 261-262. Vaduz Interlibrum Vaduz, 1975. 1 vol. (unpaginated)... 

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

Yet the resurrection of alchemical tropes at the birth of modern atomic science demands a third version of the story. Weart notes that the word transmutation offered a clue that could help explain almost every strange image that would later appear in nuclear energy tales (6). In order to understand fully the relationships between alchemical transmutation and the science of radioactivity, I take a path that branches off from both the traditional history of scientific discovery and the image history that Weart provides. In Modem Alchemy, I reconstruct the history of how scientific knowledge was produced and how it was elaborated in a broader cultural and spiritual context. That is, I look at science, its public elaboration, and its spiritual4 dimensions as mutually interacting realms, and tell a story of how science and occultism were entwined. 

Less noted today is the fact that The World Set Free also posited the collapse of world economies as a direct result of atomic transmutation. In Wells s novel, gold was one of the by-products of the newly harnessed atomic energy that powered cars and houses. It thus became worthless. Wells begins his novel in a Soddyian vein, with a chapter entitled The Sun Snarers that recounts the history of mankind s use of energy. When he reaches the late medieval period in his story, Wells notes ... 

In Soddy s 1908 Interpretation of Radium lectures, he laid out the current state of knowledge about radiation and radium, discussing with scientific specificity (but in relatively accessible terms) the history of the last decade of discoveries in radioactivity and current interpretations of them. But the lectures and book concluded with more imaginative, less strictly scientific speculations about the uses of such knowledge and the powers of the energy released by atomic transmutation. Returning to the subject of alchemy, Soddy noted ... 

Unfortunately, most early alchemists are unknown, considering that they were very secretive about their methods and left little in the way of written history. Their goals were mystical, economic, secret, unpublished, and unshared. Alchemic practices were also related to medicine as well as rehgion during some periods of time and in some countries. The alchemists main search was for the philosopher s stone that could unlock the secrets of transmutation—that is, the secrets of how to transform base metals and chemicals into different, more useful and valuable products, such as gold and silver. This also led to the futile search over many centuries for the elixir vitae that would be both the universal cure for all illnesses and the way to achieve immortality. 

New Zealand-born physicist, successfully transmuted nitrogen into oxygen by changing the number of its protons. (World History/Topham/The Image Works)... 

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