2.1.2 SEE-I Model

State

Alchemy helped develop modern chemistry through scientific experimentation conducted by prominent scientists in the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Elaborate

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines alchemy as “a medieval forerunner of chemistry, based on the supposed transformation of matter.” Alchemy can be linked to chemistry through the techniques and tools used–how alchemists’ experiments showed an understanding of chemical properties and the experts who practiced it.

Exemplify

• Ex. 1: In their pursuit of this transformation alchemists used techniques such as distillation and tools such as flasks and funnels, all of which are still used in chemistry today. We see this demonstrated in illustrations shown in Alchemy by E.J. Holmyard (1968), which shows tools that appear and function similarly to modern chemistry tools and equipment still used today.

• Ex. 2: Not only that but Robert Boyle, the father of modern chemistry, was an alchemist. Furthermore, an experiment of Boyle’s was replicated in recent years, and his results were found to be accurate, though his conclusion was slightly off because of the knowledge of the time. Isaac Newton was also an alchemist and practiced it on the side of his more “acceptable” work.

•  Ex. 3: Chemistry seeks to understand the behavior and properties of substances; one property is the changing of states, which is parallel to alchemy’s objective to transform metals.

Illustrate

In conclusion, one might say that alchemy’s relationship to chemistry should be considered analogous to astrology’s relationship to astronomy: that is, astrology and astronomy were initially the same practice, but they diverged over time, leaving astrology as a pseudoscience and astronomy as a science. However, this analogy ignores the nuanced development of alchemical practice and how, unlike astrology, alchemy did change over time and led directly into the science of chemistry before being abandoned altogether.