The World's Largest Public Domain Media Search Engine
[Interior of a metallurgist's workshop with furnace and implements of his trade; on the hood over the furnace is a portrait of an unidentified man]

Similar

[Interior of a metallurgist's workshop with furnace and implements of his trade; on the hood over the furnace is a portrait of an unidentified man]

description

Summary


Illus. in: Voarchadvmia contra alchi'miam: ars distincta ab archimi'a, & sophia: cum additionibus: proportionibus: numeris: & figuris opportunis. Venetiis : 1530.
Published in: The tradition of technology : Landmarks of Western technology ... / Leonard C. Bruno. Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 1995, p. 115.

A medieval philosophy having as its asserted aims the transmutation of base metals into gold, the discovery of the panacea, and the preparation of the elixir of longevity. It was practiced in most of the ancient world, from China and India to Greece. Alchemy migrated to Egypt and was later revived in 12th-century Europe through translations of Arabic texts into Latin. Medieval European alchemists made some useful discoveries, including mineral acids and alcohol. The revival led to the development of pharmacology and to the rise of modern chemistry. The gold-making processes of alchemists were finally discredited, but not until the 19th century.

date_range

Date

01/01/1530
person

Contributors

Pantheo, Giovanni Agostino, active approximately 1517-1535.
create

Source

Library of Congress
copyright

Copyright info

No known restrictions on publication in the U.S. Use elsewhere may be restricted by other countries' laws. For general information see "Copyright and Other Restrictions ...," http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/195_copr.html

Explore more

furnaces
furnaces