Alchemy & Alchemists: Hermetic Occult Science

Louis Figuier was a 19th century French chemist and scientific writer, famous for the quality of the journal articles and books he published. This book uncovers the veil of the Hermetic Art of alchemy, which is seen by some as the most sublime science and by others as mere nonsense.In spite of the discredit into which it has fallen since the end of the 18th century, alchemy has not lost the privilege of arousing curiosity and seducing the imagination. The mystery that envelops it, the marvellous side that is attributed to its doctrines, the fantastic reputation that is attached to the memory of its adepts, all this half-veiled combination of realities and illusions, truths and chimeras, still exerts a singular prestige on certain minds.The first part of this book is devoted to a summary of the beliefs and doctrines professed by the Hermetic philosophers. It provides a picture of the work carried out by the alchemists in search of the Philosopher’s Stone, and a summary of the principal chemical discoveries that are due to them.The second part is a sort of historical study in which an attempt is made to establish the role that alchemy played in the society of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the period in which it exercised the greatest influence on minds.The third part, entitled History of the principal metallic transmutations, is a summary of the strange events that have sustained for so long in Europe the belief in the doctrines of transmutatory science.The last part, Alchemy in the nineteenth century, aims to show that alchemical beliefs are not completely abandoned today, and to highlight the reasons that some people still invoke to justify them. Read more