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On Chemical Modeling an Alchemical Process: The Use of Combined Chemical Methods in a Historical Study
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Abstract
Laboratory work is an important component of a course in the History of Chemistry and Alchemy, though it can only be illustrative and not comprehensive. The course should exercise both the cognitive and research abilities of an university student. Therefore methods of modeling are of prime importance at this stage of instruction. Modeling can be both a priori and experimental. The experiment can use the alchemist's materials, or it can reproduce the procedure with modern reagents. A good example for the use of this method is a recipe for the preparation of the Philosopher's Stone attributed to Lullius and cited by J. Ripley in Liber Duodecium Portarum. Thus, the Ripley's recipe is not only considered to be the first indication of the existence of acetone, but it may also indicate the formation of acetyl acetone and its derivatives. Thus, as far as the history of alchemy is concerned, the use of an experimental model not only allows us to solve a number of specific problems such as recipe interpretation and product identification, but it allows also to probe the essence of alchemical work. The combination of empirical and speculative modelings leads to the interaction of the exact methods of chemistry with the broad historico-chemical generalizations, thus introducing some additional dimensions to the definition of historico-chemical practice.
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- Received: August 03, 2009
ACS
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