Distilling Knowledge: Alchemy, Chemistry, and the Scientific Revolution (New Histories of Science, Technology, and Medicine)
ByBruce T. Moran
- Publisher: Harvard University Press
- Pages: 224
- Publication Date: 2005-01-30
- ISBN-10: 0674014952
- ISBN-13: 9780674014954
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Description:"
Alchemy can't be science--common sense tells us as much. But perhaps common sense is not the best measure of what science is, or was. In this book, Bruce Moran looks past contemporary assumptions and prejudices to determine what alchemists were actually doing in the context of early modern science. Examining the ways alchemy and chemistry were studied and practiced between 1400 and 1700, he shows how these approaches influenced their respective practitioners' ideas about nature and shaped their inquiries into the workings of the natural world. His work sets up a dialogue between what historians have usually presented as separate spheres; here we see how alchemists and early chemists exchanged ideas and methods and in fact shared a territory between their two disciplines.
Distilling Knowledge suggests that scientific revolution may wear a different appearance in different cultural contexts. The metaphor of the Scientific Revolution, Moran argues, can be expanded to make sense of alchemy and other so-called pseudo-sciences--by including a new framework in which ""process can count as an object, in which making leads to learning, and in which the messiness of conflict leads to discernment."" Seen on its own terms, alchemy can stand within the bounds of demonstrative science.
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Summary: the cutting edge of historical scholarship
Rating: 5
Bruce Moran is a heavy in the world of academic alchemical studies, and this book is exactly what the history of science needs--after having neglected the serious study of alchemy for too long for the wrong reasons. Of all his books, this is the best place to start for somebody with a general interest in the subject, or those who wish to better understand the true place of alchemy in the development of modern scientific method, as well as the history of chemistry. This book contains a powerful argument for the relevance of alchemy in the development of the modern conception of what scientific knowledge should be understood as consisting of, and should dispel for anyone with "eyes to see" the negative rumours about alchemy being foolish superstition. Alchemy was early modern matter theory, deeply concerned with many of the issues modern scientists can't fail to neglect. Now historians of science cannot neglect them either.
Summary: Like a breathe of fresh air
Rating: 5
After reading several popular books on alchemy, it was a relief to find this scholarly, yet easy-to-read, history. Moran sets alchemy in context through time and shows how it fits into the scientific revolution. All the major alchemical heavies are there--including some fascinating material on Paracelsus. Also discusses such things as the evolution of the alchemy/chemistry teaching laboratory. Really a satisfying and fascinating read.
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