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A related term is argyropoeia (from Ancient Greek ἀργυροποιία (arguropoiía) 'silver-making'), referring to the artificial production of silver, often by transmuting copper. Although alchemists pursued many different goals, the making of gold and silver remained one of the defining ambitions of alchemy throughout its history, from ...
Evidence of the idea of transmuting base metals to gold appears in 2nd- to 5th-century AD Buddhist texts, about the same time as in the West. It is also possible that the alchemy of medicine and immortality came to China from India, or vice versa; in any case, for both cultures, gold-making appears to have been a minor concern, and medicine the ...
The use of an elixir for transmuting base metals into gold is explained (see philosopher's stone) and a lengthy defense is given defending alchemy against the charge that transmutation of metals was impossible. The practical directions for laboratory procedures were so clear that it is obvious the author was familiar with many chemical operations.
The philosopher's stone [a] is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold or silver; [b] it was also known as "the tincture" and "the powder". Alchemists additionally believed that it could be used to make an elixir of life which made possible rejuvenation and immortality .
The term transmutation dates back to alchemy.Alchemists pursued the philosopher's stone, capable of chrysopoeia – the transformation of base metals into gold. [3] While alchemists often understood chrysopoeia as a metaphor for a mystical or religious process, some practitioners adopted a literal interpretation and tried to make gold through physical experimentation.
Depiction of Sedziwój performing a transmutation for Sigismund III by Jan Matejko, 1867. Projection was the ultimate goal of Western alchemy.Once the philosopher's stone or powder of projection had been created, the process of projection would be used to transmute a lesser substance into a higher form; often lead into gold.
A source book in medieval science. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-82360-5. Hannam, James (2011). The Genesis of Science: How the Christian Middle Ages Launched the Scientific Revolution. Washington, DC: Regnery. p. 454. ISBN 978-1-59698-155-3. Huff, Toby E. (2003). The rise of early modern science: Islam, China, and the West ...
Chrysopoeia and argyropoeia, the turning of base metals, such as lead or copper, into gold and silver; Magnum opus (alchemy), the creation of the philosopher's stone; Mental transmutation, the transformation of a mental state