+- Alchemy Discussion Forum (https://www.alchemywebsite.com/forums)
+-- Forum: Alchemy Discussion Forum (https://www.alchemywebsite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Forum: Articles on alchemy (https://www.alchemywebsite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=9)
+--- Thread: Fire-assay remains in Renaissance Europe (/showthread.php?tid=2947)
Fire-assay remains in Renaissance Europe - Paul Ferguson - 01-31-2026
Alchemy, chemistry and metallurgy in Renaissance Europe: a wider context for fire-assay remains
By Marcos Martinon-Torres and Thilo Rehren
"During the Renaissance, what we nowadays call 'alchemy' and 'chemistry' constituted a single, all-inclusive, sphere of activity, that involved the routine conduct of fire assays. The quest for the philosophers' stone was just one endeavour within a wider spectrum, and it did not convey the religious or speculative connotations attached to this practice in later interpretations. This al/chemical world overlapped with metallurgy substantially: both fields were strongly intertwined and there was a bi-directional flow of theories and practices."
https://www.academia.edu/1977272/Alchemy_chemistry_and_metallurgy_in_Renaissance_Europe_a_wider_context_for_fire_assay_remains