BrainStuff Classics: How Did Alchemy Create Chemistry?

Alchemists may have never turned lead into gold, but they did create the field of chemistry. Learn how the study of alchemy worked in today's classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/alchemy-to-chemistry.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,
Lauren Bogelbaum here with a classic episode of the podcast.
In this one, we delve into how the partially magical
or spiritual study of alchemy, over the course of the
second half of the second millennium ce slowly morphed into

(00:23):
the scientific field of chemistry that we know today.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Hey Brainstuff, Lauren bogelbaumb here with a question. When you
think of alchemy, do you imagine wizards brewing up concoctions
of bat wings and blood? Historians? What have you reconsider?

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Most researchers see alchemy not as fodder for fantasy stories
and wickan ceremonies, but as the forerunner of modern science,
particularly chemistry. Some of these people might have been among
the best scientific minds of their eras blazing trails that
led to scientific insights all over the world.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Alchemy was, at its core, a way for inquisitive minds
to explore the way the world worked, attempting to decipher
nature's functions and leverage them for various purposes. To achieve
those ends, alchemists theorized it was necessary to purify the body, spirit,
and mind. People who practiced alchemy were searching for ways
to a produce elixirs which would hopefully cure all kinds

(01:20):
of diseases and b turn base metals like lead into
precious ones like gold via some yet to be found
substance called the Philosopher's Stone. We spoke via email with
Peter Maxwell Stuart, who teaches history at the University of
Saint Andrew's in Scotland. He explained the Chinese were particularly
interested in the first search, the Western Europeans in the second.

(01:44):
From the first centuries CE, China and India were practicing
a form of alchemy. Europeans widely practiced alchemy during the
Middle Ages, which was roughly one thousand CE through fifteen
hundred CE, though the practice continued afterwards, waning through the
eighteen hundreds but extending all the way into the twentieth century,
thanks in part to beliefs that ultimately went back to
Aristotle and the Greek philosophers. Alchemists thought that nature was

(02:06):
always striving to perfect itself, and since gold was considered
the perfect metal in part because it doesn't rust or tarnish,
it was regarded as the end all be all of metals.
There was an idea that because it was so perfect,
all other metals would eventually turn into gold given enough time,
due to some unknown natural process. So the alchemist was

(02:28):
seeking to speed up this natural process in the laboratory.
Maxwell Stewart said, given the basic assumptions of their belief systems,
the alchemist's endeavors were entirely rational. Theoretically, too, alchemical experimentation
might give an insight into God's intentions in creating the universe,
the way he did with their boiling cauldrons and intricate crucibles. Alchemists,

(02:50):
who were predominantly but not exclusively men, exhibited a willingness
to experiment, a trial and error mentality that explored multiple
disciplines in hope of illuminating nature's intricacies. Through on a
scholarship and research, alchemists tinkered with chemical processes like dies
and perfumes, and of course also found ways to change
the properties of various alloys. One didn't attend any kind

(03:12):
of university to learn these skills. Instead, the knowledge of
master alchemists was transferred to apprentices under a shroud of secrecy.
Because that knowledge was so powerful, alchemists wrote in obscure symbols,
codes and metaphors to protect their ideas and insights. Despite
all the mystery, not all the experiments were bogus. One
Lawrence Principe, a chemist and science historian at Johns Hopkins University,

(03:35):
decided to recreate a medieval alchemy experiment, one that he
hoped would conjure a philosopher's tree, a structure that was
thought to be a precursor to the philosopher's stone. He
blended gold and mercury into a flask, which he then
placed under warm sand in his lab. Days later, he
was astonished to see that the recipe had in fact worked,
generating a golden tree like structure that would have undoubtedly

(03:57):
drawn even more awe. Centuries ago, these kinds of wonders
may not have been possible if not for the work
of countless alchemists of yore, who often used techniques like
sublimation and distillation that would be familiar to any modern chemist.
Swiss physician Paracelsus was one famous alchemist from the sixteenth century.
Part prophet, part metallurgist, part doctor, he became known as

(04:19):
the world's first toxicologist because he realized the correlation between
dosage and toxicity that poisons in small doses might be
helpful to humans, while larger doses could be fatal. In
his work, Paracelsus gave rise to the concept of making
clinical medical diagnoses and then treating conditions with specific medicines.
During the seventeenth century, British inventor, philosopher and scientist Robert

(04:42):
Boyle wished to find the secret of the Philosopher's Stone, which,
in the alchemic tradition, was the most powerful force in nature.
That power, he thought was a key to the secrets
of the universe. Although Boyle is best known today for
pioneering the scientific method and for the law named after him,
he was enamored with alchemy all.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
Of his life.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
Boyle's law, by the way, says that the volume of
a gas varies inversely with pressure. At the same time,
Boyle was hard at work. Isaac Newton, that guy who
gave shape to the laws of gravity and optics, was
actively involved in alchemy for decades. He pursued alchemic secrets
that he felt were perhaps even more fundamental than gravity.
He hoped that in teasing out the chemical and mineral

(05:21):
makeup of the world, scientists could perhaps find the one
true essence of nature, thereby wielding immense power. With its
roots divided between philosophical, religious, mystical, and scientific pursuits, alchemy
eventually ran into the buzzsaw of rational thinking that developed
during the Age of Enlightenment. Its secret of tendencies drew
suspicions from the government and the church, and its associations

(05:43):
with the occult didn't help e there As such, alchemy
faded into obscurity, leaving behind a reputation colored by charlatanism
and quackery. It's no wonder that ancient peoples first gaped
at the perceived power of alchemists, and later, as more
refined signice methods took hold, began to mock them. But
with their legitimate chemical experimentations and applications, alchemists had already

(06:07):
made their mark, paving the way for modern chemistry. Maxwell
Stewart said experimentation almost inevitably resulted in the discovery of
various substances hitherto either unknown or not understood. Phosphorus is
an obvious example, and so that aspect of alchemy leads
into modern chemistry. One particularly famous aspect of that chemistry

(06:28):
is distillation, including distilling alcohol from sugary bruise into wine
or beer and then into liquors. Today's episode is based
on the article how Alchemy Paved the Way for Chemistry
on HowStuffWorks dot Com, written by Nathan Chandler. Brain Stuff

(06:48):
is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
Com was produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from
my heart Radio visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.