01-31-2026, 10:39 AM
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...ay_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...ay_remains