Globe Pequot / Prometheus
Pages: 364
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Trim: 6½ x 9¼
978-1-61614-915-4 • Hardback • July 2014 • $24.95 • (£18.99)
978-1-61614-916-1 • eBook • July 2014 • $22.50 • (£16.99)
""Twenty-first-century safety standards are mixed with fourteenth-century experiments in a breezy exposition. The discussion of ‘proof by authority' not only illuminates the sources of the philosophers' stone but also suggests that similar thinking is active in modern politics and religion. This is the first account of alchemy I have seen that I would characterize as both light and enlightening reading. The chemical experiments may not be as flashy as they would have been centuries (or even decades) ago, but they're colorful enough to be preferable to most currently available home chemistry sets. The description of isolating sal ammoniac from natural sources will leave the reader in stitches if not in stenches.”—Alexander Scheeline, emeritus professor of chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign“The authors have removed alchemy from the realm of magic to show the actual chemistry behind it, and include experiments the reader can do at home.” —John A. Pojman, PhD, professor of chemistry, Louisiana State University“The Chemistry of Alchemy gives the chemist's perspective, in nontechnical language, to the core history of alchemy and its importance to modern chemistry. Selected works illustrating key concepts from alchemy are reproduced in carefully designed experiments throughout the book. The alchemists' quest for gold was not in vain, as they contributed and refined many scientific concepts we have today.” —Stephen L. Crump, PhD, Savannah River National Laboratory
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