William R. Newman
Since the Enlightenment, alchemy has been viewed as a sort of antiscience, disparaged by many historians as a form of lunacy that impeded the development of rational chemistry. But in ,Atoms and Alchemy,, William R. Newmanâ€”a historian widely credited for reviving recent interest in alchemyâ€”exposes the speciousness of these views and challenges widely held beliefs about the origins of the Scientific Revolution.Â ,Tracing the alchemical roots of Robert Boyleâ€™s famous mechanical philosophy, Newman shows that alchemy contributed to the mechanization of nature, a movement that lay at the very heart of scientific discovery. Boyle and his predecessorsâ€”figures like the mysterious medieval Geber or the Lutheran professor Daniel Sennertâ€”provided convincing experimental proof that matter is made up of enduring particles at the microlevel. At the same time, Newman argues that alchemists created the operational criterion of an â€œatomicâ€ element as the last point of analysis, thereby contributing a key feature to the development of later chemistry.Â  ,Atoms,and Alchemy ,thus provokes a refreshing debate about the origins of modern science and will be welcomedâ€”and deliberatedâ€”by all who are interested in the development of scientific theory and practice.
Esoterica,Alchemy,Science,History Of Science,Nonfiction,Science,History,Philosophy,Science,Chemistry
Atoms and Alchemy: Chymistry and the Experimental Origins of the Scientific Revolution