When I hear the word “alchemy,” I typically think of medieval people in long robes and pointy hats waving magical wands. But was alchemy actually like, and how does it differ from chemistry?
Alchemy
What is alchemy?
Let’s talk about the origin of the word alchemy. The word alchemy comes from either one of two Greek words: Khemia “black earth,” a term used to describe Egypt or Khymatos “that which is poured out.” Alchemy has been around for centuries. It was popular in ancient China, India, the Middle East, and Europe.
Historians have traced the history of alchemy to back Democritus, an ancient Greek philosopher. In 200 BC, he wrote the text, Natural & Mystical Things. This text included recipes for dyes, pigments, and, most importantly, how to make gold. Another vital person to alchemy was Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan, aka Geber, who lived from 721 to 815 AD. He determined that everything was comprised of four elements (fire, earth, water, air) and, when combined, can form mercury and sulfur, two crucial aspects of alchemy.
Goal and Problems
The goal of alchemy was to transform ordinary metals, like iron, zinc, lead, or copper, into a more valuable metal, like gold or silver. With this transformation, alchemists hoped to find the Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir of Life. The Philosopher’s Stone is a substance that turns ordinary metals into gold or silver and can create the Elixir of Life. The Elixir of Life, on the other hand, will give someone eternal youth.
However, that is not to say alchemy was without problems. One of the key issues in the past was that there was no universal naming system. This meant that one alchemist could call potassium nitrate saltpeter, and another could call it nitrate of potash and not realize they are talking about the same thing. In addition, the alchemists wanted to keep their methods secretive, so they used vague and confusing language. This meant that experiments could not be reproduced without much difficulty.
Today, alchemy is still practiced, but it is not as popular as it once was. While alchemists were unsuccessful in finding the Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir of Life, it is thought to have been the precursor of chemistry.
Chemistry
What is chemistry?
The word chemistry comes from the Greek word chemeia, which means pouring or infusing. Like many things, there was a slow evolution from alchemy to chemistry. One of the first major transitional works, Ortus medicinae, was written by Dutch scientist Jan Baptista van Helmont. However, he is not considered to be the first modern chemist. That honor goes to Robert Boyle, who is thought to have been influenced by Baptista van Helmont, and if you remember from chemistry class, the namesake of Boyle’s Law.
Goal and Problems
As time has progressed, chemistry evolved from alchemy into discovering elements, rules that dictate how things interact, and the creation of the periodic table. Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleev is the creator of the periodic table. He believed that the elements had some type of order and that there was a recurring pattern when the elements were arranged in ascending order of atomic weight. He found that the elements share some similar properties. In fact, he even was able to predict the likely properties of 3 elements: gallium, germanium, and scandium. Mendeleev’s periodic table is the basis of the modern periodic table, which is still growing and changing. Within the past 7 years, scientists have accepted new weights for 19 elements. To learn more about how scientists change an element’s weight, check out my other article, Elements Can Change Weight?
Now I might be biased in saying this, but chemistry doesn’t have many problems or at least none like alchemy did. Chemistry’s problems are more unknown mysteries. Some of those mysteries are: how does water evaporate, how did life begin, how do molecules form, and many more. Like most things today, a big issue is finding the money to be able to research these unknown mysteries. However, the pandemic has shown how much scientific progress can be made in a short time when there is enough money. Who knows, maybe in a few years, some of chemistry’s biggest mysteries could be solved!
Want to learn more about alchemy? Stay tuned for more!