y

• Alchemy was born in ancient Egypt, where the word Khem was used in reference to the fertility of the flood plains around the Nile.

Egyptian beliefs in life after death, and the mummification procedures they developed, probably gave rise to rudimentary chemical

knowledge and a goal of immortality.

MummificationMummification

Alchemy in EgyptAlchemy in Egypt

• By 332 BC, Alexander the Great had conquered Egypt. Greek philosophers became interested in the Egyptian ways.

Greek views of how matter is made up of the four elements of nature - Fire, Earth,

Air and Water, were merged with the Egyptian sacred science. The result was

Khemia, the Greek word for Egypt.

Elements of NatureElements of Nature

Alchemy in ChinaAlchemy in China

• Alchemy was also developed independentlyin China by Taoist monks.

• The monks pursued both the outer elixir and the inner elixir.

Outer ElixirsOuter Elixirs

The first elixir being minerals, plants etc. which could prolong

life.

Inner ElixirInner Elixir

The second being the use of exercise techniques, such as Qigong, to manipulate the chi

or life force of the body.

Alchemy in IndiaAlchemy in India

• Like China and Egypt, India developed

alchemy independently. They had beliefs

similar to the Chinese, in that they used

external and internal methods to purify the

body and prolong life.

Flame TestsFlame Tests

• In their work the Indians invented steel andlong before Bunsen and Kirchhoff's work,realized the importance of flame color inthe identification of metals.

Alchemy moves WestAlchemy moves West

• The introduction of alchemy to the west came in the 8th Century when the Arabs brought it to Spain. From here it quickly spread to the rest of Europe.

AmalgamsAmalgams

• In Europe, alchemy led to the discovery of manufacture of amalgams and advances in many other chemical processes and the apparatus required for them. Eventually, by the 16th Century, the alchemists in Europe had separated into two groups.

Modern chemistryModern chemistry

• The first group focussed on the discovery of new compounds and their reactions - leading to what is now the science of chemistry.

Spiritual AlchemySpiritual Alchemy

• Alchemy is sometimes called the Hermetic Art after Hermes the messenger of the Greek gods. He is known by many as the father of alchemy, and an entire tradition of alchemy bears his name.

• Probably the single most revered document in the Hermetic Tradition is the Emerald Tablet. Said to have been originally written by Hermes himself, stories of it's discovery remain varied.

Philosophers stonePhilosophers stone

• The Arabian belief was that metals are made up of mercury and sulfur in varying proportions. Gold was seen as the perfect metal and all others were less perfect, an idea popular among western alchemists. It was a very popular idea indeed, that these lower metals could be transmuted into gold by means of a substance known as the

Philosophers Stone.

Alchemy in AmericaAlchemy in America

• While alchemy has strained the credulity and pocketbooks of many Europeans since its general appearance in the 16th and 17th centuries, it has also held a fascination for a fair number of prominent and not so prominent Americans as well.

Alchemy in AmericaAlchemy in America

• Even late in the "Golden Game", the 18th century that is, the illustrious, even then ivy covered, halls of Harvard was teaching its students the theory of the transmutation of metals. Even the Governor of Connecticut and Massachusetts dabbled with quicksilver now and again as well.

The other sideThe other side

• The second continued to look at the more spiritual, metaphysical side of alchemy, continuing the search for immortality and the transmutation of base metals into gold.This led to the modern day idea of alchemy.

Nuclear chemistry- the modern alchemyNuclear chemistry- the modern alchemy

• Radioactivity is the key to today's alchemy. What happens in a nuclear reactor? Uranium is transmuted into plutonium, cesium, strontium, barium, iodine, krypton and xenon, to name but a few elements. These often decay to other stable elements through various radioactive processes.

Seaborg makes GoldSeaborg makes Gold

• In 1980, Glenn Seaborg was successful in transmuting minute quantities lead to gold, possibly via bismuth. In 1972, Russian scientists found that the lead shielding of an experimental nuclear reactor near Lake Baikal inSiberia had unexpectedly turned to gold!

The future of AlchemyThe future of Alchemy

• A possible route to gold would be from mercury. If mercury of its various naturally occurring isotopes could be made to capture neutrons, the resulting nuclear decay chains would eventually yield gold-197, the mostcommon naturally occurring gold isotope, and perfectly stable.

Can we really make gold?Can we really make gold?

• As for the Philosopher's Stone, is such a material possible? It has been theorized that the fluoride salt of the super heavy element with Z = 126 would be able to release the energy required for the mercury to gold transmutation. Of course, such a super heavy element is still theoretical, but if produced, could be the modern day Philosopher's Stone.

Do You Know the Answer to this Ancient Do You Know the Answer to this Ancient Riddle?Riddle?

"The key to life and death is everywhere to be found, but if you do not find it in your own house, you will find it

nowhere. Yet, it is before everyone's eyes; no one can live without it; everyone has used it. The poor usually possess more of it than the rich; children play with it in the streets.

The meek and uneducated esteem it highly, but the privileged and learned often throw it away. When rejected, it lies dormant in the bowels of the earth. It is the only thing

from which the Philosopher's Stone can be prepared, and without it, no noble metal can ever be created."

(1) The answer to this riddle is the key that unlocks the door to wealth, health,

enlightenment, and even immortality. Yet this great treasure is "everywhere to be found."

(2) It is something that can only be discovered and understood by first going

within our own "house," which could also be our own body or mind.

(3) People who blindly follow socially accepted values, beliefs, and behavior, are no longer connected to the mystery of this thing and therefore "throw it away." It is something often rejected as irrelevant or easily taken for

granted.

(4) The answer is both the beginning and end of the Great Work of the alchemists. It is "the only thing

from which the Philosopher's Stone can be prepared."

That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above,

and that which is Above corresponds to that which is Below,

to accomplish the miracles of the One Thing.

And just as all things come from this One Thing,

through the meditation of One Mind,

so do all created things come from this One Thing

through Transformation.

It's father is the Sun; its mother the Moon.

The Wind carries it in its belly.

It's nurse is the Earth.

BibliographyBibliography

http://www.alchemylab.com/history_of_alchemy.htm

Alchemy and Early Modern Chemistry: Papers from Ambix

http://www.chemsoc.org/exemplarchem/entries/2002/crabb/history.html