Few intellectual traditions have been as misunderstood, romanticized, and ultimately as consequential as alchemy. Most people dismiss it as a fool’s errand — a pre-scientific fantasy in which deluded ...

Philadelphia has quietly been sitting on what the Science History Institute says may be the finest collection of alchemical ...

The Science History Institute, one of the American Chemical Society’s designated National Historic Chemical Landmarks and ...

The story of the first porcelain made in Europe gives some insight into the older threads, like alchemy, that are woven into modern chemistry, says Roald Hoffmann, a professor of humane letters in the ...

What has long been seen as a deluded effort to turn base metals into gold is being reassessed by researchers as a serious precursor to chemistry in which women were heavily involved. About 20 years ...

An engraved plate attributed to Augsburg printmaker Martin Engelbrecht in the early eighteenth century depicts an 18th-century engraving of a ragged, impoverished alchemist. Before he was a well-known ...

Researchers at Colorado State University have developed a new photoredox catalysis system that uses visible light mimicking photosynthesis to drive energy-intensive chemical reactions at room ...

Within a 20-minute walk from Notre Dame Cathedral, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, is the oldest house in the city: the house of Nicolas Flamel. If the name rings a vague bell, perhaps it’s ...