HIST4236 - History of Alchemy and the Origins of Modern Science
Dr. Brian Regal
Professor for the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Department of History, LHAC 212, Office phone: 1-908-737-5316
Kean University
email: bregal@kean.edu
Course Description:
The medieval and Renaissance origins of modern science covered by studying the history of alchemy. Emphasis on practical aspects of alchemy’s origins, its performance, and the goals of its practice along with the Hermetic, Islamic, Jewish and Christian components of alchemical philosophy and its contribution to science.
Course Objectives:
Students will become familiar with the history of alchemy and the origins of modern science, particularly chemistry. Students will read original alchemical and Hermetic texts as well as current scholarly works. Students will show their proficiency through a series of examinations and research papers.
The Pimander, an early Italian edition of a treatise on one of the central books of the Corpus Hermeticum of the legendary character Hermes Trismegistus .
Cesare Baronio's Annales Ecclesiastici (1588-1607), the book which prompted Isaac Casaubon to demolish the Hermetic tradition.
Syllabus (NOTE: the syllabus is subject to modification over the course of the semester)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Axy_fdLjWCK_xiCj4TerSJjbr1tHbdRl/view?usp=sharing
Textbook: Laurence Principe. The Secrets of Alchemy (University of Chicago Press, 2013).
Power Point presentation: Updated 9.2023
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YRJHRWUiodbONqjTVsxlMMNsHo3JXimn/view?usp=sharing
Chicago Manual of Style 9.22.2023
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pnF1h1AyvFZOg8biaZqpNA549qvL0aLr/view?usp=sharing
Additional required reading:
• Words history students must know
Inside the Mind of an Alchemist, with Laurence Principe (5:10)
Alchemy and Hermeticism: an introduction to the issue
Alchemy vs. Chemistry: Etymology
Excerpt from Geber / Ibn Hayyan
The Formation of Boyle's Experimental Philosophy, University of Otago, New Zealand.
and
The Correspondence of Robert Boyle, (6 volumes) Hunter, Clericuzio, and Principe (Pickering & Chatto, 2001).
Kean library call#: Q 143 .B77 A4 2001 V. 1-6:
Alchemical Laboratory Notebooks and Correspondence of George Starkey (Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2004). Newman and Principe eds.
Kean library call # QD 24.S73 A3 2004
The Boyle letters on-line at the Royal Society, London. These are photos of the actual letters rather than transcriptions.
Watch Newton: The Dark Heretic (approx 58 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdBrnNUZKrk
Additional readings: not required but recommended
• Read Robert Boyle's Sceptical Chymist in a transcribed Gutenberg Project version
Early historiographic opinions on alchemy
• The True Place of Astrology in the History of Science
• The problem of the origins of alchemy, 1936
• The Beginnings of alchemy, 1947
More modern opinions
• Alchemy and laboratory space
• A Virtuoso's History, Elias Ashmole
On-Line Resources
Deciphering the recipe for the Philosopher's Stone
Dr. Brian Regal on Alchemy in Harry Potter - NBC/MACH
1600 Scanned Occult Books
http://www.openculture.com/2018/02/1600-occult-books-now-digitized-put-online.html
Digital Alchemy On-Line Resources: These sites contain original alchemical texts, images, and other primary source materials that will make your research much more effective.
Alchemy web site
http://www.levity.com/alchemy/
AMBIX The Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry
Alchemical Recipes Project - original alchemical recipes and the art of distillation
http://recipes.hypotheses.org/278
Become an Alchemist?
Bodleian Library, Oxford, Western Manuscript collection, contains several alchemical texts that can be downloaded.
Books of Secrets: Writing and Reading Alchemy, exhibition, Chemical Heritage Society, Philadelphia
The Chymistry of Isaac Newton
http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/newton/
The Getty Research Institute, The Art of Alchemy
http://www.getty.edu/research/exhibitions_events/exhibitions/alchemy/
Marginalia a webpage devoted to medieval literature and manuscripts has an excellent section on alchemy with highly useful resources
http://www.marginalia.co.uk/shared/med_alchemy.php
Science History Institute alchemy collection - scans of original alchemical texts
Isaac Newton's Library / Corpus Newtonicum
https://corpusnewtonicum.wordpress.com/2015/10/16/isaac-newton-library-online/
Original Alchemical Texts
http://www.levity.com/alchemy/t_archiv.html
http://www.alchemyhomestudy.com/library.htm
The Recipes Project, fun alchemical recipes
http://recipes.hypotheses.org/5475
The Ritman Library of Hermetica and alchemy, Amsterdam
http://www.ritmanlibrary.com/about-us/founder/
General History of Alchemy
http://www.alchemylab.com/history_of_alchemy.htm
The Innes Collection: Alchemical Magic, Hermeticism and related Currents. Warburg Institute, London
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/library/digital-collections/innes/
Understanding the Language of Alchemy, Medievalists.Net
http://www.medievalists.net/2012/09/understanding-the-language-of-alchemy/
The Warburg Institute, University of London, Alchemy/Chemistry collection
http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/library/links/orientation/alchemy-chemistry
Harry Potter and the History of Alchemy, exhibit, Wash., DC
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/harrypottersworld/
The Cloisters Museum, New York, medieval art history
Mural from the Cloisters Museum, New York
__________
• Kean University Department of History Main Page
• Kean University Main Page
This course webpage is copyright 2023.