The secret code of the alchemists

Science historian Larry Principe studies the European alchemists, proto-chemists who tried to turn base metals into gold by combining mythology, religion, and the beginnings of true science. In this video, he explains why alchemists' notebooks—their records of experiments—are so difficult to understand, and how an alchemist might have gone about turning a science experiment into fanciful, analogy-filled secret code.

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