THE ALCHEMY

Alchemy is an ancient pseudoscience concerned with the transmutation of base metals into gold and with the discovery of both a single cure for all diseases and a way to prolong life indefinitely. Alchemy emerged as a pseudoscience in China an in Egypt during the early centuries of this era. In China it was associated with Taoist philosophy and purported to transmute base metals into gold by use of a “medicine”. The gold so produced was thought to have the ability to cure diseases and to prolong life. The mystical element was always strong in alchemy and became dominant with time so that in China degenerated into a complex of superstitions.

In Egypt, the methods of transmutation of metals were kept secret by temple priests. Those recipes became widely known at academy in Alexandria. Alchemy had its basis in the skills of Egyptian artisan, Eastern mysticism and Aristotelian theory of composition of matter. Aristotle taught that all matter was composed of four elements: water, earth, fire and air. According to this theory, different materials found in nature had different ratios of these four elements. Therefore, by proper treatment a base metal could be changed into gold. These ideas were further supported by astrological speculation from Mesopotamia.