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A review by rrwright
The Secrets of Alchemy by Lawrence M. Principe
5.0
Delightful! Exactly what I hoped for.
This book is exactly what I was hoping for: a casually readable but serious investigation of the history of alchemy, explanation of their arcane language, chemical foundations, and especially a telescope onto the mind of proto-scientific mankind. The book is very well written and easily readable, but so delightfully informative. The author’s own experiments with centuries-old alchemical recipes was the icing on the cake—to understand the old methods with 21st century science and cinch a complete understanding of what they claimed to be doing vs. what was actually occurring. This is one of the most satisfying books I’ve read on any topic in years. Thank you!
This book is exactly what I was hoping for: a casually readable but serious investigation of the history of alchemy, explanation of their arcane language, chemical foundations, and especially a telescope onto the mind of proto-scientific mankind. The book is very well written and easily readable, but so delightfully informative. The author’s own experiments with centuries-old alchemical recipes was the icing on the cake—to understand the old methods with 21st century science and cinch a complete understanding of what they claimed to be doing vs. what was actually occurring. This is one of the most satisfying books I’ve read on any topic in years. Thank you!