Monatshefte für Chemie - Chemical Monthly ( IF 1.7 ) Pub Date : 2021-08-12 , DOI: 10.1007/s00706-021-02813-8 Radek Chalupa 1, 2 , Karel Nesměrák 3
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The review collects papers on the application of analytical chemistry in revealing the history of alchemy. In addition to historical alchemical texts, preserved material remains can also be a valuable source of information for historians of alchemy. The first part of the review focuses on the analysis of material artifacts: the remains of alleged transmutations (alchemical gold and silver), the rarely preserved specimens of Philosophers’ Stone, alchemical medicines, remains of alchemical vessels and laboratories (cupellation included), and analysis of the bodily remains of the alchemists themselves. Non-destructive spectrometric methods predominate in these analyses. Experimental reconstruction of the course and the results of old alchemical processes and their subsequent analysis is another way to reveal the history of alchemy. This approach, which has only been used in recent decades, is covered in the second part of the review. The published individual reconstructions are set in a chemical–historical context and arranged into three time periods: ancient and Arabian alchemy, medieval and renaissance alchemy, and late alchemy and chymistry. The review demonstrates that analytical chemistry is a very effective and potent technique for discovering new information about the history of alchemy.
Graphic abstract
中文翻译：
分析化学揭示炼金术的秘密
该评论收集了有关分析化学在揭示炼金术历史中的应用的论文。除了历史炼金术文献外，保存下来的材料遗迹也可以成为炼金术历史学家的宝贵信息来源。评论的第一部分侧重于对物质文物的分析：据称嬗变的遗骸（炼金术金和银），很少保存的贤者之石标本，炼金药物，炼金术容器和实验室的遗骸（包括杯形），以及分析炼金术士自己的遗体。无损光谱方法在这些分析中占主导地位。课程的实验重建和旧炼金术过程的结果及其后续分析是揭示炼金术历史的另一种方式。这种做法，近几十年来才使用，在审查的第二部分进行了介绍。已发表的个别重建以化学-历史背景为背景，分为三个时期：古代和阿拉伯炼金术、中世纪和文艺复兴时期的炼金术、晚期炼金术和化学炼金术。该评论表明，分析化学是一种非常有效且有效的技术，可用于发现有关炼金术历史的新信息。
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