Book Chapter: The Meanings of Analysis for Paracelsus

[Paul Ferguson]

"Paracelsus is often lauded for having created a new disciplinary identity for alchemy by basing it on the twin operations of analysis and synthesis. Indeed, his neologism for the field, Spagyria, is often said to express this pairing by embodying the Greek terms for decompounding and compounding (σπάν and ἀγείρειν). The present article disputes both this etymological claim and the underlying belief that Paracelsus had an interest in synthesis that paralleled his very strong promotion of analysis (Scheidung)."

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.100...-76398-4_3