1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Dowdy and I'm Delaine and chocolate boarding, and 4 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:18,960 Speaker 1: today we're gonna do something we rarely do. We're gonna 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: talk about chemistry a little bit and more generally the 6 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:26,480 Speaker 1: history of science, and we're specifically the history of alchemy. 7 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:28,639 Speaker 1: And I thought it might be fun to just maybe 8 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 1: kick it off with our own experiences in chemistry mine 9 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: or maybe not so illustrious. I don't think I've taken 10 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:38,639 Speaker 1: chemistry since eleventh grade, and I may or may not 11 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: have lit something on fire, maybe a French book. You know, 12 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 1: I've got a good grade, but I don't know if 13 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 1: I'm why did you, guys, why did you get a 14 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,600 Speaker 1: good grade? After or fire? Maybe we shouldn't go into 15 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: that too much. Let's let's leave that my beginnings in 16 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: chemistry were not illustrious. I either, although I did almost 17 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: minor in chemistry. That's an interesting choice. Yeah, I did. 18 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: I was one class short of a chemistry miner, and 19 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: then I chose to minor in German instead because I 20 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 1: was also one class away from a German miner. And 21 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: I thought that would be easier. Big mistake. That was 22 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: not easy. German was not easier than chemistry. Well, I 23 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 1: don't know, because I didn't take the final chemistry class 24 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:22,960 Speaker 1: that would have taken to Maybe it would have been 25 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: just as difficult. But reading and writing on't you get 26 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:28,280 Speaker 1: to the higher levels, and studying a foreign language, it's 27 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,039 Speaker 1: pretty difficult. I was actually one class short of a 28 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 1: French major, so I know where you're coming from. I'm 29 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 1: just curious. What was the last chemistry class? Organic chemistry one, 30 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: which was kind of my downfall. I preferred in organic 31 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:44,319 Speaker 1: chemistry to organic chemistry standable. I definitely remember people in 32 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: college complaining about that one. So, as we're gonna find 33 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: out today, chemistry and alchemy are pretty closely related. But 34 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: we've seen alchemy pop up quite a bit lately in 35 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: the podcast, most recently with the episode on John d who, 36 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: in addition to being an alchemist with an astrologists and 37 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: a spy and quite a few other things too as 38 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: a talented man. But we've also been getting repeat listeners 39 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:12,119 Speaker 1: suggestions for other alchemists like Nicola Flamel and Paracelsus. So 40 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:15,520 Speaker 1: all of this really got me wondering, though, what exactly 41 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: is alchemy? I mean, I know most people understand the 42 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: crystopia aspects, so that idea that bass metals could be 43 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: transmuted into gold, and many many people have probably heard 44 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: of the Philosopher's Stone through Harry Potter Deplina. You're probably 45 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 1: just learning that now. But aside from that, there's a 46 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: really unsavory aspect about the whole science of alchemy, really, 47 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:44,079 Speaker 1: and I mean that was what honestly got my attention 48 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:46,520 Speaker 1: with the subject in the first place. Yeah, it really 49 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: calls to mind those dangerous Merlin types who slave over 50 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 1: a hot fire, making packs with the devil and combining 51 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 1: alchemy with necromancy and magic, or those broken down old 52 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,360 Speaker 1: men who waste there until eligance and fortunes, laboring to 53 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: carry out hopeless experiments and dank dungeons, the alchemy stereotypes 54 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:09,799 Speaker 1: we think of, yeah, exactly. Or I mean, worst of all, 55 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:12,279 Speaker 1: there are those, as we saw in the John d podcast, 56 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: there are those Charlatans who prey off people's desire for 57 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: wealth and try to get wealth for themselves. Not that 58 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 1: those aren't sometimes or that they weren't sometimes legitimate scenarios. 59 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 1: Alchemy was often illegal Charlatan alchemists were sometimes hanged. In 60 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 1: the fifteen nineties and Prague, which was kind of the 61 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: center of alchemy in Europe at the time, a mystery 62 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: alchemist of Arabic origin showed up, gathered the richest merchants 63 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: and bankers of the city together and took one hundred 64 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: gold marks from each, promising to multiply them. He dropped 65 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: the coins in a crucible filled with acids, mercury, lead, salt, eggshells, 66 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: and horse stung and set to fanning the fire. But 67 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: before he could get the bellows going, there was a 68 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:02,480 Speaker 1: huge explosion, a cloud of fumes, and then sure enough 69 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: a missing alchemist. Old. Yeah, so, I mean, there were 70 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: these Charlatans, but to only look at alchemy as a 71 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: quack's pursuit or charlottean's game really isn't fair. And it 72 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: turns out that much of modern chemistry really does, as 73 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:20,160 Speaker 1: we mentioned, have roots in alchemy. It's just that the 74 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: real scientists I'm making air quotes right now didn't always 75 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:26,599 Speaker 1: own up to it. So we decided it is time 76 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: for a Halloween makeover for the science or the art 77 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,719 Speaker 1: of alchemy. Of course, though something like alchemy is going 78 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 1: to have really obscure beginning. Yes, it is old. It's 79 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,160 Speaker 1: likely that it sprang up independently in different spots around 80 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 1: the world, influenced by older arts like metallurgy, medicine, and 81 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:51,279 Speaker 1: almost always closely connected to religion, prophecy, or philosophy. It 82 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 1: often had the same goal to no matter what part 83 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 1: of the world we're talking about, transmutation for the better, 84 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: so lead to gold, six to healthy, earthly, to heavenly. 85 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: Chinese alchemy, for instance, was really very medicine focused and 86 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,920 Speaker 1: influenced by Daoist beliefs. The idea that immortality could be 87 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 1: obtainable went back as far as the fourth century BC. Yeah, 88 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 1: so Chinese alchemists like co Hung who lived in the 89 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 1: fourth century and Sunsum Yao who lived in the seventh century, 90 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: provided these elixirs of life. And I really love this 91 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: detail that the British historian Joseph Needham has even attempted 92 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 1: to determine which Chinese emperors might have died from elixir poisoning. 93 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 1: Because if you are on this quest for uh immortality 94 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: and you're willing to drink just about anything to get it, 95 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 1: reasons that eventually it might not work out In your favor. 96 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 1: Indian alchemy was also more akin to what we might 97 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:52,279 Speaker 1: see as early medicine today, also really elixer based, although 98 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: in that case it was elixers as cures for specific 99 00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: ailments less than elixers as as um solutions for immortality. Yeah, 100 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: so it really was kind of like a medical industry there. 101 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: Western alchemy, however, took kind of a different route, dating 102 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: from Hellenistic Egypt. The earliest known Western alchemist is Sassimos 103 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: of Panopolis, who lived around three d a d. And 104 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: his theory was that there was a magical substance that 105 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: could transform things. He called it a tincture, and it 106 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: had a few varieties. This tincture eventually became associated with 107 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:29,279 Speaker 1: the philosopher's stone, or the quote stone that is not 108 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 1: a stone, And I almost feel like that needs to 109 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:33,919 Speaker 1: be a scary voice, like the stone that was not 110 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: a stone is not a stone should have told me 111 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 1: at the time, a Harry Potter kind of voice. Also 112 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: around this time, Alexander the Great was said to have 113 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 1: discovered the Emerald tablet, which itself contained thirteen cryptic axioms 114 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: related to alchemy, in the tomb of Herme's thrice grade 115 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:55,800 Speaker 1: in Egypt, and alchemists really ran with this distinction, this 116 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:59,600 Speaker 1: connection to Hermes and ding themselves the sons of Hermes 117 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: or her edic philosophers. And just one thing to keep 118 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:04,159 Speaker 1: in mind, and we're going to talk about this kind 119 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,480 Speaker 1: of a lot later, but the number one rule of 120 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:11,360 Speaker 1: this brotherhood was to keep it in the brotherhood. Don't 121 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: go telling your secrets of alchemy to people who don't 122 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: understand it. It was understood that if you devoted your 123 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: lifetime to studying something like this, you could talk to 124 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:25,280 Speaker 1: your fellows, you could share experiments. Maybe not even then, 125 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: but it was all a very tight knit, closed community. 126 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 1: So Arab scholars further honed the alchemical texts in the 127 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:38,080 Speaker 1: ninth century and the tenth century, and from there it 128 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: eventually spread to Europe during the Scholastic Renaissance of the 129 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: twelfth century. And probably the most famous of the Arab 130 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:47,480 Speaker 1: alchemists was the Persian al Rozzie, who was the director 131 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 1: of the Baghdad Hospital and also really a well known 132 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 1: um doctor and writer of medical text By later medieval Europeans, 133 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: he had a whole different name hold different identity for that, 134 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 1: but among alchemist he was best known for his Book 135 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 1: of Secrets, which was really straightforward, very clearly written, essentially 136 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: a catalog of lab procedures concerned with transmitting gold and silver. So, 137 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: in an article for Arab Studies Quarterly, Gail Taylor writes 138 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: that al Rozzie's methodologies, his attention to details like safety 139 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: and repeatability, and his easy instructions make the Book of 140 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 1: Secrets a proto laboratory manual. So we're gonna talk a 141 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:31,040 Speaker 1: little bit more about that line of thinking later. So, Okay, 142 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 1: we've got a sense of alchemy's progression through world history. 143 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: But what was it all about besides elixirs and the 144 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 1: philosopher's stone. What science background made the work alchemist did 145 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:46,960 Speaker 1: actually seem possible? Well, first, there's a fundamental confusion between 146 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:51,360 Speaker 1: elements and compounds that we need to go over really quick. Okay, 147 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 1: So Aristotle had proposed the existence of five elements and 148 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: those were air, earth, fire, water, and quintessence. Then in 149 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: the thirteenth entry, a new text appeared by the mysterious 150 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: alchemist Pseudo Jieber. While Geebra was often associated with eighth 151 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:12,079 Speaker 1: century Arab alchemist Jabber Abben Highen, Indiana University Professor William 152 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:16,360 Speaker 1: Newman has id Gieber as Paul of Taranto, a Franciscan monk. 153 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:19,079 Speaker 1: Newman has also traced a direct line of descent from 154 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 1: Al Rozzie's Book of Secrets to Jeeber's Sum of Perfection. 155 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,839 Speaker 1: In the Sum of Perfection, which subsequently became pretty much 156 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 1: like the Bible for medieval European alchemists, Geeber honed down 157 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: this idea of elements to include just two. All medals 158 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: were varying combinations of mercury and sulfur. So kind of 159 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: sounds like a recipe for gold maker ingredients exactly. You 160 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 1: just got to figure out the right ratio. So Paracelsis, 161 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 1: who we mentioned in the beginning, was a Swiss physician 162 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: who lived between fourteen ninety three and fifteen forty one, 163 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 1: and he further developed the ideas of Geeber. He proposed 164 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:01,440 Speaker 1: that there were actually three basic substances sulfur, mercury, and salt. 165 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: But still, you know, you're working with a limited quantity 166 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:06,200 Speaker 1: of things and trying to make gold out of that. 167 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 1: Because Paracelsis was a prominent physician, one who believed in 168 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 1: observation as the best way of learning a new type 169 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:18,440 Speaker 1: of medical alchemy, really rose up around him and his style, 170 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:22,720 Speaker 1: and many doctors alchemist scientists worked in Prague in the 171 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 1: court of Rudolph the second sort of striving to um 172 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:32,400 Speaker 1: to do experiments based on Paracelsis ideas. But alchemy wasn't 173 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: all about mixing gold from scratch from these base elements. 174 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,760 Speaker 1: It eventually became about growing gold too, And I really 175 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: think this is sort of the most interesting aspect of alchemy, 176 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:45,200 Speaker 1: at least for me. But we need some context for 177 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: this as well, because why would anyone think that they 178 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:51,640 Speaker 1: could grow gold. So in the sixteenth century Europe, there 179 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: was a belief that everything in the universe was alive, 180 00:10:55,320 --> 00:10:59,480 Speaker 1: and not just plants and animals, but minerals too. Like 181 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,559 Speaker 1: don't know, if you've ever grown your own crystals and 182 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 1: a crystal kit when you were a kid, you can 183 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:06,920 Speaker 1: kind of understand where they might have been coming from. 184 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:10,040 Speaker 1: But according to a History Today article titled a New 185 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:13,640 Speaker 1: Light on Alchemy, people thought that minerals really grew from 186 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:18,160 Speaker 1: seeds that started out deep below the earth and matured 187 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 1: gradually as they rose. So again, not too too crazy, 188 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: because sometimes metal veins under the earth really do look 189 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:28,440 Speaker 1: tree like in the way that they branch off into 190 00:11:28,679 --> 00:11:32,960 Speaker 1: different veins. But the key here was the speed in 191 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: which the seeds grew and developed and the materials that 192 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:39,959 Speaker 1: the minerals passed through. So, for instance, lava was considered 193 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:43,000 Speaker 1: a lower form because it obviously rose through the ground 194 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 1: rapidly and wasn't anything special, at least to the sixteenth 195 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:51,040 Speaker 1: century Europeans who were thinking about this. Gold, on the 196 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:54,840 Speaker 1: other hand, was believed to rise very very slowly through 197 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 1: the earth, taking its sweet time, and ultimately coming out 198 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: in the per ficked form. So one idea was that 199 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: the material that gold passed through on its way up 200 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:10,840 Speaker 1: from the low regions of the earth was the philosopher's stone, 201 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:15,640 Speaker 1: something that was around us but essentially unknown. So if 202 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 1: you could figure out what the philosopher's stone was, you 203 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 1: could make gold, and by extension, you'd have the key 204 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:25,280 Speaker 1: to perfection, something that could be applied to other worlds, 205 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:29,400 Speaker 1: to plants, animals. It would basically be the universal cure. 206 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 1: So it wasn't all about making gold for the sake 207 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:34,960 Speaker 1: of having lots of money. It had that other aspect, 208 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:38,840 Speaker 1: that perfect desire for perfection aspect to it as well. 209 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,920 Speaker 1: An alchemists theories weren't dumb by any means lead or 210 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 1: does often contain silver, silver or does often contain gold. 211 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:49,880 Speaker 1: They saw these as things that were in process or ripening, 212 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:53,640 Speaker 1: and gold making wasn't the only goal of alchemy either. 213 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:57,880 Speaker 1: Other goals included the quest to find the universal solvent, 214 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:02,200 Speaker 1: the elixir of life or universal medicine, the ability to 215 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:05,960 Speaker 1: reincarnate plants and animals from their ashes, and also the 216 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:11,600 Speaker 1: ability to generate many humans from semen and rotted horse stung. 217 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:14,560 Speaker 1: So that one sounds a little bit out there, but 218 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:18,120 Speaker 1: we should also mention that alchemy was also closely tied 219 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 1: with Christian and Gnostic and neo Platonic ideas, And you 220 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 1: couldn't just perform the experiment, so you couldn't be the 221 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:29,640 Speaker 1: modern um, cool headed chemist working in the lab. You 222 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:32,360 Speaker 1: had to be in the right mindset. You had to 223 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:35,160 Speaker 1: be completely in the game. Essentially. In the History Today 224 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:39,480 Speaker 1: article we mentioned even suggested that that strong belief system 225 00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:43,559 Speaker 1: might have come out of the frustration of failed experiments. 226 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:46,839 Speaker 1: If you just realized that you never could make goal 227 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:49,240 Speaker 1: no matter how hard you tried, you might explain that 228 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:52,360 Speaker 1: as something you weren't quite with it. You weren't thinking 229 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,960 Speaker 1: the way you should have been. But just because experiments 230 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: to turn lead or whatever base metal into gold did 231 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:01,760 Speaker 1: always end in frustration. Sorry, it would have taken a 232 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:05,440 Speaker 1: nuclear reaction to make that work, guys, doesn't mean that 233 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:08,760 Speaker 1: alchemists didn't pick up a trick or two along the way. 234 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:13,560 Speaker 1: Alchemists did figure out things like distillation acid base reactions, 235 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:18,120 Speaker 1: precipitation from solution, and the refining of metals. They also 236 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 1: created new alloys conceived of atoms long before atomic theory, 237 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:26,359 Speaker 1: and repeated experiments, also making sure that they were repeatable, 238 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:31,400 Speaker 1: of a basic requirement for lab experiments like the scientific method. 239 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 1: They also began to shift in medicine away from plants 240 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:39,240 Speaker 1: towards minerals and Discover magazine. Dr Newman says that quote 241 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:42,920 Speaker 1: the goals of eighteenth century chemistry, namely to understand the 242 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: material composition of things through analysis and synthesis and to 243 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 1: make useful products such as pharmaceuticals, pigments, porcelain, and various 244 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 1: refined chemicals, were largely inherited from sixteenth and seventeenth century alchemists. 245 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 1: So that makes us have to ask the question, if 246 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:03,920 Speaker 1: alchemy was science based, albeit somewhat mystical, why did it 247 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:08,360 Speaker 1: develop such a bad reputation. Even John Diaz we talked 248 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 1: about in the recent podcast, who was living in the 249 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 1: sixteenth and seventeenth century, suffered from his later dabbling in 250 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:19,360 Speaker 1: alchemy and conversations with angels that really kind of ruined 251 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:22,960 Speaker 1: his career in a way. Later scientific geniuses like Isaac 252 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:26,760 Speaker 1: Newton spent thirty years working on alchemy, more than he 253 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 1: did on physics and mathematics combined, but he tried to 254 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:33,840 Speaker 1: keep his interest secret. Again, according to Dr Newman, who 255 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:38,200 Speaker 1: has extensively studied Newton's secret notebooks, he says, quote, alchemy 256 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: became a danger to one's reputation when interest bled into enthusiasm. 257 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:48,200 Speaker 1: There were just a few fundamental problems with alchemy that 258 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 1: were kind of hard to overcome. Yeah. One was that 259 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:55,000 Speaker 1: the quest for gold brought in swindlers. We mentioned Charlatan's 260 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 1: in the beginning and how they were hanged for alchemy. 261 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:02,120 Speaker 1: Alchemists were also very secretive of thus alchemy's obscure texts 262 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: and strange metaphors for chemicals or experiments like Babylonian dragons, 263 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 1: green lions, toads that decompose and turn into ravens, neptunes 264 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 1: tried and we're going to talk a little more about 265 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:16,240 Speaker 1: that stuff too. And finally, authorities didn't want anyone to 266 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 1: make gold and devalue the currency. Lots of countries made 267 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,800 Speaker 1: it illegal to transmitt metals, though they'd often secretly patronize 268 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:26,480 Speaker 1: their own alchemists out with the other guys, so they, 269 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:28,520 Speaker 1: you know, on the assumption that you can do it. 270 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:31,560 Speaker 1: Please don't, please don't, But just in case, I'm going 271 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: to have an insurance policy in my own alchemists. But 272 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: despite the eventually obvious connection to chemistry, alchemy was still 273 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 1: seen as a shameful beginning for the science, and one 274 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:47,800 Speaker 1: Thomas Thompson called alchemy the quote rude and disgraceful beginnings 275 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:52,120 Speaker 1: of chemistry. Robert Boyle, who is a founder of modern chemistry, 276 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:54,840 Speaker 1: was embarrassed by his interest in alchemy. He called it 277 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: a quote empty, vain and deceitful study. So what do 278 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 1: you do if the science that you want to pursue, 279 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 1: that you want to study is just mired in the 280 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:11,600 Speaker 1: bad imagery of magicians and astrologers and charlatans. You rebrand. 281 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:13,960 Speaker 1: You just create a whole new name, and you keep 282 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: doing the same old things. So Boile and other respectable 283 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:21,480 Speaker 1: types started calling themselves chemists chemist spelled with a Y, 284 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:24,640 Speaker 1: and according to Lawrence Prince HiPE, who is a chemist 285 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:27,520 Speaker 1: and a historian of science, that JOHNS. Hopkins and a 286 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: colleague of Dr Newman's, over the next few decades after 287 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: Boyle was working in in chemistry, these chemists distanced themselves 288 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:40,959 Speaker 1: almost entirely from alchemy. They had a new name and 289 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 1: a new outlook on science. But it's not that they 290 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:47,919 Speaker 1: weren't doing the same work. Prince chop A can't find 291 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:51,160 Speaker 1: written evidence that the new breed of chemists tried to 292 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:55,000 Speaker 1: refute the idea of metallic transmutation. Some were still looking 293 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 1: to create gold from base metals as late as seventeen 294 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 1: sixty and in JOHNS. Hopkins magazine, Dr Princeipe is quoted 295 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:05,560 Speaker 1: as saying, quote, current scholarship is only now revealing how 296 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 1: artificial and contrived the distinction between alchemy and chemistry really was. 297 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:12,919 Speaker 1: So it was seriously just a name change. Yeah, And 298 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:16,320 Speaker 1: Prince pay and Newman have both worked to recreate some 299 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:19,360 Speaker 1: of the old alchemists experiments. I think this is so interesting. 300 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:22,160 Speaker 1: It kind of reminded me of our old Um episode 301 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:26,720 Speaker 1: on historical beer, Historical Bruise and they've used recreations of 302 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:31,119 Speaker 1: fifteen sevent century lab where and really gone to a 303 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:33,200 Speaker 1: lot of trouble to get the right kind of chemicals, 304 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:36,720 Speaker 1: um right minerals and things that would have been available 305 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:40,240 Speaker 1: at the time, and the experiments. The old alchemy experiments 306 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 1: have cool names like the Star of Regulus of antimony, 307 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:47,200 Speaker 1: or the net. The question though, is do they work. Obviously, 308 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,119 Speaker 1: the ones that are supposed to turn a base metal 309 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:53,159 Speaker 1: into gold do not end up working, but some of 310 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: them really do show interesting kind of chemical experiments. One 311 00:18:58,359 --> 00:19:02,239 Speaker 1: recreated experiment called the True of Diana is described by 312 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:05,720 Speaker 1: Newman as sounding like this quote. If you immerse a 313 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:09,679 Speaker 1: solid amalgam of silver and mercury in nitric acid with 314 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:14,080 Speaker 1: dissolved silver and mercury, you produce tiny twig like branches 315 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:18,080 Speaker 1: of solid silver. So it really does look kind of 316 00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:21,359 Speaker 1: like a tree. And you can get that idea that 317 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 1: minerals are something that grow from seeds and and not 318 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:30,000 Speaker 1: closer to the way we understand them today. So why 319 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:32,399 Speaker 1: is there so much renewed interest in the history of 320 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:35,560 Speaker 1: alchemy in the first place. It's partly because of the 321 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: clandestine interest of major figures like Boil and Newton, Yeah, Newton, 322 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 1: for instance, has these extensive journals loud notebooks on his 323 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:48,760 Speaker 1: experiments in alchemy, and you can look at them, you 324 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:52,040 Speaker 1: can try to decipher all of the code words pieuses. 325 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:55,960 Speaker 1: And I think it must have been kind of a 326 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:58,439 Speaker 1: shock for a lot of people who think of Newton 327 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:02,119 Speaker 1: as just a supremely rational man that he did have 328 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:05,640 Speaker 1: an interest in alchemy, and that it does make sense too. 329 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 1: But that brings us to a very appropriate edition of 330 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:17,119 Speaker 1: Listener Mail. So this email is from Kiley, who wrote 331 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:19,680 Speaker 1: in to tell us a little story that she thought 332 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,000 Speaker 1: of after she listened to the old episode on the 333 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:24,880 Speaker 1: Amber Room. She wrote, I remembered a story about how 334 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:29,360 Speaker 1: George Habeshi, a Hungarian scientist who dissolved two Nobel prizes 335 00:20:29,359 --> 00:20:32,320 Speaker 1: in a mixture of acids to keep the Nazis from 336 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:35,240 Speaker 1: finding them. The acid turned the gold of the prizes 337 00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:38,240 Speaker 1: into liquid, so it appeared to be a chemical solution 338 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:41,080 Speaker 1: in a jar. He then placed the solution on a 339 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 1: shelf in his laboratory at the Neil's Boar Institute and 340 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:48,040 Speaker 1: fled After the war. He found the solution still in 341 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 1: the same spot on the shelf, completely undisturbed. He was 342 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,320 Speaker 1: able to turn the gold back into a solid and 343 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:58,639 Speaker 1: contacted the Nobel Society, who, after hearing Habeshi's tail, was 344 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 1: more than happy to read cast the awards. Later on, 345 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 1: Haschi himself went on to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. 346 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:08,600 Speaker 1: I love the story because it tells of the ingenious 347 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:12,359 Speaker 1: ways one man kept these prize pieces from the Nazis. 348 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:14,880 Speaker 1: So I looked into the story a little bit more 349 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:18,159 Speaker 1: and it turns out that that solution that can dissolve 350 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:22,359 Speaker 1: gold is called aqua regia and um. It's one of 351 00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:26,160 Speaker 1: the things actually that was written about by Pseudo Jeeber. 352 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:31,360 Speaker 1: Interestingly enough, but I also checked out a video by 353 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:35,959 Speaker 1: Dr Prince pay on the Chemical and Engineering News online site, 354 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:40,240 Speaker 1: and he describes the extreme metaphors of alchemists, and he 355 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:43,720 Speaker 1: used the Aqua regia as an example. So, for instance, 356 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:48,639 Speaker 1: ammonium chloride, which is a white volatiles solved, would have 357 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:53,720 Speaker 1: been called the white Eagle by alchemists because it is metaphorical. 358 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:55,920 Speaker 1: It kind of suggests what it is, but it's also 359 00:21:55,960 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 1: very cryptic. Another one, nitric acid would be called red 360 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:03,119 Speaker 1: dragon because when it's heated, you get a lot of 361 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:06,640 Speaker 1: red vapors and it is um. He described it kind 362 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:09,480 Speaker 1: of almost in a hungry way. It consumes everything, so 363 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:13,560 Speaker 1: it's kind of like a dragon. So if you made aquaregia, 364 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:17,560 Speaker 1: you could mix nitric acid and ammonium chloride together, and 365 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:20,680 Speaker 1: an alchemist might put that as saying, let the red 366 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:24,200 Speaker 1: dragon devour the white eagle, and you wouldn't know what 367 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:26,520 Speaker 1: on earth the alchemist was talking about unless you were 368 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:30,680 Speaker 1: a fellow son of Hermes. Better yet, they could draw 369 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:34,280 Speaker 1: a picture, And that's one of the neatest things about alchemy. 370 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:37,199 Speaker 1: If you just look up pictures of the labs and 371 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:41,600 Speaker 1: the experiments, these gorgeous woodblock prints, and so you could 372 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:44,160 Speaker 1: you could do a picture of the solution by having 373 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:47,920 Speaker 1: a red dragon devouring a white eagle. I just thought 374 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:50,879 Speaker 1: that was so so interesting and so neat that we 375 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:54,160 Speaker 1: can tie it into something that happened during World War 376 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:57,840 Speaker 1: two to see sort of alchemy still being practiced in 377 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,119 Speaker 1: a way. Yeah, it's funny that red dragon, white eagle 378 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: stuff reminds me of John Dee and his double sort 379 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:09,000 Speaker 1: of double identity as a spy and a sorcerer. For 380 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 1: the creating spy like element, it's very spylight, very sneaky away, 381 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,840 Speaker 1: but very cool. So thank you for writing in that 382 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 1: was a very neat story, and if you would like 383 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:23,360 Speaker 1: to share any stories with us, you can write us 384 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 1: always at history podcast at how stuff Works dot com. 385 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:30,639 Speaker 1: You can also suggest ideas for future podcasts there. We 386 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:33,000 Speaker 1: also have a little bit of news that we wanted 387 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:36,120 Speaker 1: to share, and that's that we have been nominated by 388 00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:39,119 Speaker 1: you guys, I guess for a podcast award, for a 389 00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:42,680 Speaker 1: People's Choice Podcast Award, which were very psyched about, and 390 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:47,280 Speaker 1: voting has opened up. It is open until October. Is 391 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,000 Speaker 1: that right, Sarah? I think that's right. You can vote 392 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,399 Speaker 1: every single day until then. You can vote once a 393 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:54,719 Speaker 1: day at the Podcast Awards website which is podcast Awards 394 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:57,679 Speaker 1: dot com. And we're in the education category. Yeah, so 395 00:23:57,680 --> 00:23:59,640 Speaker 1: please go there if you get a chance. That really 396 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,560 Speaker 1: takes few seconds. We'd love it if you guys voted 397 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,560 Speaker 1: for us, if you like us, of course, and see 398 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,520 Speaker 1: what happens there. Other than that, if you want to 399 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 1: find out a little bit more about the stuff that 400 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:13,240 Speaker 1: we talked about in this podcast, there is a related 401 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:15,959 Speaker 1: episode on Stuff they Don't Want You to Know, one 402 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,119 Speaker 1: of our sister podcasts on Alchemy also, and we have 403 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:23,199 Speaker 1: an article on our website called how Isaac Newton worked, 404 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: and you can look that up by visiting our homepage 405 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:32,560 Speaker 1: at www dot how stuff works dot com. Be sure 406 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:35,520 Speaker 1: to check out our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. 407 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,160 Speaker 1: Join how stuf Work staff as we explore the most 408 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:42,760 Speaker 1: promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The House to Works 409 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 1: iPhone app has a rise. Download it today on iTunes