deepstash
Beta
Deepstash brings you key ideas from the most inspiring articles like this one:
Read more efficiently
Save what inspires you
Remember anything
The Art and (Proto)Science of Alchemy
6
Key Ideas
Save all ideas
Medieval Alchemy
Alchemy in the Middle Ages was a mixture of science, philosophy, and mysticism. Alchemists approached their craft, believing that purity of mind, body, and spirit was necessary.
Medieval alchemy was centered around the idea that all matter was composed of four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. They theorized that the right combination could produce any substance on earth.
119 SAVES
748 READS
Origins and History of Alchemy
- Alchemy emerged independently in China, India, and Greece, but degenerated into superstition. It drifted to Egypt and survived as a scholarly discipline.
- In the 12th century, it was revived in Europe when scholars translated Arabic works into Latin.
- By the end of the 13th century, philosophers, scientists, and theologians started discussing is more seriously.
107 SAVES
456 READS
The Goals of Medieval Alchemists
- To discover the relationship of man to the cosmos.
- To find the ingredient to make an elixir of immortality and transform common substances into gold.
- Late in the Middle Ages, to use alchemy as a tool in the progress of medicine.
109 SAVES
405 READS
Achievements of Alchemists in the Middle Ages
- Medieval alchemists made hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, potash, and sodium carbonate.
- They identified the elements arsenic, antimony, and bismuth.
- They invented and developed laboratories that are still used today in a modified form.
- The practice of alchemy laid the foundation for further development of chemistry as a scientific discipline.
107 SAVES
400 READS
Disreputable Associations of Alchemy
- Due to the secrecy of alchemists, the Catholic Church viewed alchemy with suspicion and ultimately condemned it.
- Alchemy was never taught in Universities but passed on from teacher to apprentice or student.
- Followers of the occult were attracted to alchemy.
- Alchemy was used to defraud people.
103 SAVES
335 READS
Famous Medieval Alchemists
- Thomas Aquinas, a theologian, studied alchemy before it was condemned by the Church.
- Roger Bacon was the first European to describe how to make gunpowder.
- Paracelsus used his knowledge of chemical processes to benefit the science of medicine.
106 SAVES
385 READS
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
7
Key Ideas
The scientific revolution
Human history is often framed as a series of episodes, representing sudden bursts of knowledge. The Agricultural Revolution, the Renaissance, and the Industrial Revolution are a few examples where ...
Pseudo-Science
Much of the knowledge about the natural world during the middle ages dates back to the teachings of the Greeks and Romans. Many did not question these ideas, despite the many flaws.
- Aristotle taught everything beneath the moon was comprised of four elements: earth, air, water, and fire.
- Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy thought that heavenly bodies such as the sun, moon, planets and various stars all revolved around the earth in perfect circles.
- The ancient Greeks and Romans held to the idea that illnesses were the result of an imbalance of four basic substances and was related to the theory of the four elements.
Rebirth and Reformation
- During the Renaissance, there was a renewed interest in the arts and literature. It led to a shift toward more independent thinking.
- In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Roman Catholic Church. Luther promoted his thoughts by printing and distributing them, encouraging churchgoers to read the Bible for themselves. This led to the Protestant Reformation.
- In the process, the criticism and reform led to placing the burden of proof ahead in understanding the natural world, paving the way for the scientific revolution.
6
Key Ideas
Describing wonder
Wonder is said to be a childish emotion. However, as adults, we experience it when gaping at something unexpectedly spectacular.
Adam Smith, an 18th-century moral philosopher, describes wond...
Bodily symptoms
The bodily symptoms of this strange appearance point to three dimensions:
- Sensory: The marvelous things take hold of our senses - we stare and widen our eyes.
- Cognitive: We are perplexed because we don't have a past experience to understand them. It leads to a suspension of breath, similar to when we are startled.
- Spiritual: We look upwards in veneration, which makes our heart swell.
The scale of wonder
At the mild end of this emotion, we talk about things being marvelous. More intense emotions might be described as astonishing. The extreme of this experiences is met with expressions of awe.
3
Key Ideas
Medieval monks
Medieval monks had a hard time concentrating while they were supposed to focus on divine communication: to read, to pray and sing, and to work to understand God.
The ideal was a mind that was...
A method for concentrating
Nuns, monks, preachers and the people they educated were to visualize the material they were processing. A branchy tree or a finely feathered angel. The images might loosely correspond to the substance of an idea.
The point was to give the mind something to draw, to indulge its appetite for interesting forms while sorting its ideas into some logical structure.
The problem of concentration
Any plan for sidestepping distractions calls for strategies on sidestepping distraction.
It is a fantasy to think that we can dodge distraction once and for all. There will always be exciting things to create distraction for the mind.