Today's New York Times Science page looks at how 17th century alchemy, a DIY trial-and-error approach to discovery, had a profound impact on the practice and business of modern chemistry. The article is pegged on an exhibition about titled "Transmutations: Alchemy in Art" and last week's International Conference on the History of Alchemy and Chymistry, both at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia. Seen here, Hendrick Heerschop's "The Alchemist's Experiment Takes Fire" (1687, oil on canvas laid down on board, 21" x 17 1/2"). From the NYT:
"Experimentalism was one of alchemy's hallmarks," said Lawrence M. Principe, a historian of science at Johns Hopkins University and a trained chemist. "You have to get your hands dirty, and in this way alchemists forged some early ideas about matter."
Bent over boiling crucibles in their shadowy laboratories, squeezing bellows before transformative flames and poring over obscure formulas, some alchemists stumbled on techniques and reactions of great value to later chemists. It was experimentation by trial and error, historians say, but it led to new chemicals and healing elixirs and laid the foundations of procedures like separating and refining, distilling and fermenting.
"What do chemists do? They like to make stuff," Dr. Principe said. "Most chemists are interested not so much in theory as in making substances with particular properties. The emphasis on products was the same with some alchemists in the 17th century."
