Atoms and Alchemy

Chymistry & the Experimental Origins of the Scientific Revolution

William R. Newman

250 pages, parution le 23/06/2006

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Résumé

Since the Enlightenment, alchemy has been viewed as a sort of antiscience, disparaged by many historians as a form of lunacy that impeded the development of rational chemistry. But in Atoms and Alchemy, William R. Newman-a historian widely credited for reviving recent interest in alchemy-exposes the speciousness of these views and challenges widely held beliefs about the origins of the Scientific Revolution.

Tracing the alchemical roots of Robert Boyle's famous mechanical philosophy, Newman shows that alchemy contributed to the mechanization of nature, a movement that lay at the very heart of scientific discovery. Boyle and his predecessors-figures like the mysterious medieval Geber or the Lutheran professor Daniel Sennert-provided convincing experimental proof that matter is made up of enduring particles at the microlevel. At the same time, Newman argues that alchemists created the operational criterion of an "atomic" element as the last point of analysis, thereby contributing a key feature to the development of later chemistry. Atoms and Alchemy thus provokes a refreshing debate about the origins of modern science and will be welcomed-and deliberated-by all who are interested in the development of scientific theory and practice.

L'auteur - William R. Newman

William R. Newman is Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University.

Sommaire

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
A Note on Terminology
Introduction: The Problematic Position of Alchemy in the Scientific Revolution
The Mise en Scène before Sennert
Daniel Sennert's Atomism and the Reform of Aristotelian Matter Theory
Robert Boyle's Matter Theory
A: Concise Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

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Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	The University of Chicago Press
Auteur(s)	William R. Newman
Parution	23/06/2006
Nb. de pages	250
Format	15 x 22,5
Couverture	Broché
Poids	375g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780226576978
ISBN13	978-0-226-57697-8