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The 14th century saw the beginning of the cultural movement of the Renaissance.By the early 15th century, an international search for ancient manuscripts was underway and would continue unabated until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, when many Byzantine scholars had to seek refuge in the West, particularly Italy. [4]
Renaissance astronomer Tycho Brahe, known for his studies of the heavens, was also a alchemist. A new study of glass shards reveals what Brahe was working with in his lab.
This week, explore the secret alchemical lab of a Renaissance astronomer, meet blushing hens, discover “dark” oxygen on the ocean floor, and more. Glass shards reveal what was inside a ...
Isabella Cortese (fl. 1561), was an Italian alchemist and writer of the Renaissance. All that is known of her life and work is from her book on alchemy, The Secrets of Lady Isabella Cortese. Cortese was also well-versed in several fields other than alchemy.
Alchemy was a series of practices that combined philosophical, magical, and chemical experimentation. One goal of European alchemists was to create what was known as the Philosopher’s Stone , a substance that when heated and combined with a non precious metal like copper or iron (known as the “base”) would turn into gold.
An important example of alchemy's roots in Greek philosophy, originated by Empedocles and developed by Aristotle, was that all things in the universe were formed from only four elements: earth, air, water, and fire. According to Aristotle, each element had a sphere to which it belonged and to which it would return if left undisturbed. [36]
In Renaissance alchemy, alkahest was the theorized "universal solvent". [ nb 1 ] It was supposed to be capable of dissolving any composite substance, including gold (then not considered an element), without altering or destroying its fundamental components. [ 1 ]
The protoscience of chemistry, and alchemy, was unsuccessful in explaining the nature of matter and its transformations. However, by performing experiments and recording the results, alchemists set the stage for modern chemistry. The history of chemistry is intertwined with the history of thermodynamics, especially through the work of Willard ...