The Chemical Choir: A History of Alchemy

Description

Beginning in China in the search for the secret of immortality, and appearing independently in Egypt as an attempt to produce gold through the arts of smelting and alloying metals, alchemy received a great boost in Europe from studies by Islamic and Jewish alchemists. Translated into Latin and then combined with what was known of Greek natural science these accounts provoked an outburst of attempts to manipulate matter and to change it into transformative substances known as the Philosopher's Stone or the Elixir of Life. Alchemy's heyday in Europe was the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Demonstrations of the art were performed in royal courts and specimens of the gold so transmuted can be seen in various museums today. During the nineteenth century, attempts were made to amalgamate alchemy with the religious and occult philosophies then growing in popularity; and in the twentieth century psychologists principally Carl Jung perceived in alchemy a powerful vehicle for aspects of their theories about human nature.

Dr PG Maxwell-Stuart is an Honorary Lecturer in the School of History at the University of St Andrews. His many publications include Witchcraft - A History (Tempus 2000)and The Occult in Medieval Europe (Palgrave 2005).

"There are marvellous stories of successful transmutation from various metals into gold, but [Maxwell-Stuart] also looks carefully at the influence of religion and politics...a coherent and interesting overview of an obsession that has gripped members of our species for 3000 years or more."- Emma Restall Orr, The Druid Network, June 2008 Mention -Book News, November 2008 "New age libraries and any interested in spiritual topics will find The Chemical Choir a fine review of alchemy and its evolution from early to modern times. The history of alchemy embraces changing human legacies and perceptions: chapters cover historical, cultural and religious changes accompanying changing ideas of alchemy and its practices. It's a fine, wide-ranging survey new age collections will welcome." -Midwest Book Review, December 2008 "The Chemical Choir helps make the arcane and often disrespected activities of alchemy more accessible and meaningful, not only to chemists and other scientists, but also to those interested in history and philosophy. Summing Up: Recommended. All libraries." -R. E. Buntrock, CHOICE, March 2009 'It breaks down a complex subject - the study of nature through experiments with chemicals - into ten easy-to-read chapters ... The reader who has always wondered about alchemy and has not yet read a history of the subject will find The Chemical Choir an entertaining starting point.' - Reviews in History The Chemical Choir provides an updated introduction to the history of alchemy to put beside more specialized works on this subject. Its expansive range from fourth-century BCE China to twentieth-century Europe and America will appeal to a broad audience, who will learn much from Maxwell-Stuart's treatment of alchemy in all its diverse dimensions, including interconnections with esoteric and bodily religious practices, with medicine, industrial chemistry, magic, religious redemption, and matter theory -- Pamela H. Smith, Columbia University, US