alchemy defines an occult art, a mix of science/ mystical philosophy and a hint of magic, with the intended purpose of finding ways extend lifespan and cure illnesses by discovering the elixir of life. during this search , alchemists focused on obtaining silver and gold (the perfect metals, since they were always shining and never rusted) from less precious metals. eventually, they failed, but their equipment, finding and techniques were the precursors of modern inorganic chemistry.
practiced for at least 2 and a half millennia until the 20th century AD in most civilizations, like Mesopotamia, Persia, ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, India, China, Japan, Korea, in Muslim civilizations, and even in Europe, alchemy implied more than just shape shifting metals and hoping for longer lives.
alchemists believed matter, in all its forms, was merely a variation of one shapeless substance that eventually dissolved into fire, air, water and earth by means of heat and cold, or dry and wet. they believed that alerting the elemental balance through their transmutation process could reverse and reshape the building of matter, aided by the philosopher's stone, a magical catalyst that they were also searching for. they believed that the gold and silver they would obtain would be alive, unlike the one we find in everyday life.
practiced for at least 2 and a half millennia until the 20th century AD in most civilizations, like Mesopotamia, Persia, ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, India, China, Japan, Korea, in Muslim civilizations, and even in Europe, alchemy implied more than just shape shifting metals and hoping for longer lives.
alchemists believed matter, in all its forms, was merely a variation of one shapeless substance that eventually dissolved into fire, air, water and earth by means of heat and cold, or dry and wet. they believed that alerting the elemental balance through their transmutation process could reverse and reshape the building of matter, aided by the philosopher's stone, a magical catalyst that they were also searching for. they believed that the gold and silver they would obtain would be alive, unlike the one we find in everyday life.
