HIST391 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Puritans, Reductionism
6 Apr 2014
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1: no refrigeration = spoiled meat, problem how to make spoiled meat eatable, solution spices, problem no spices in europe, sol import from the east (from the arabs, problem (europe has nothing to trade, sol the arabs would only be interested in gold, problem no gold in europe, sol alchemy, egyptian / greek physica et mystica physical and mystical , foundation of the medieval alchemy ( one of two works) James price (1752 1783: published a bestseller book on how to make gold from mercury , became a bestseller as it seemed probable to make gold from mercury, the royal society invited him to do a public demonstration of transmutation, eventually those involved in alchemy started to experiment with various substances, by 1600s alchemist were producing practical products: dyes and perfumes, same underlining principle in modern chemistry and in alchemy, transformation of one substance into another, all famous scientists were alchemists or did alchemy.
