Review by Choice Review
This reviewer agrees with the dust-jacket commentators that a book like this, aimed at students and general readers, "fills a real gap" in the literature of alchemy and early chemistry. Probably both are correct in believing that "there is no other book like it...." It is disappointing that it is not more readable. Although Moran (history, Univ. of Reno) occasionally uses a breezy vernacular style, and may thus appeal to a younger general audience, that audience is unlikely to have the patience to follow the ideas within his long, complex sentences. Understandably, he wishes to minimize scholarly apparatus, but one hopes his readers would be curious about the basis of his positions on arguable issues. There are frequent citations to Latin texts, often only found in special collections of major research libraries. Judging from his other work, Moran is well qualified to attempt to fill the need for a book of this sort. There is much excellent material, but unfortunately Moran does not engage the reader with foreshadowing what is to come and insightful reminders of where he has been. The multilingual references meet scholarly requirements of acknowledgement, but they are not very helpful to the targeted audience. Adequate index, probably computer-generated. ^BSumming Up: Optional. General readers; lower- and upper-division undergraduates. E. R. Webster emerita, Wellesley College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Reacting to the perception that the break, early on in the scientific revolution, between alchemy and chemistry was clean and abrupt, Moran literately and engagingly recaps what was actually a slow process. Far from being the superstitious amalgam it is now considered, alchemy was genuine science before and during the scientific revolution. The distinctive alchemical procedure--distillation--became the fundamental method of analytical chemistry, and the alchemical goal of transmuting base metals into gold and silver led to the understanding of compounds and elements. What alchemy very gradually but finally lost in giving way to chemistry was its spiritual or religious aspect, the linkages it discerned between purely physical and psychological properties. Drawing saliently from the most influential alchemical and scientific texts of the medieval to modern epoch (especially the turbulent and eventful seventeenth century), Moran fashions a model short history of science volume. --Ray Olson Copyright 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The traditional grand narrative of the scientific revolution styles it as a decisive rejection of magic and mysticism in favor of rationality and empiricism. This engaging study of early modern science insists there was no such sharp break. Historian Moran traces the gradual evolution of alchemy to chemistry through a wide array of texts from the 15th through 18th centuries, including classical alchemical treatises, handbooks of practical alchemy, early chemistry textbooks and the writings of Newton and Boyle, both of whom considered alchemy a perfectly legitimate scientific discipline. He finds in alchemical thought intriguing precursors of modern ideas about the particulate nature of matter, the biochemical paradigm of life and disease, and Newtonian gravity. Moreover, he considers alchemy, which boasted a vast amount of lore on everything from metallurgy to medicine and was practiced not just by adepts but by doctors, artisans and housewives, to have been an important catalyst in the development of the scientific mindset; while alchemical theories may have been wrong, alchemical practice schooled society at large in everyday habits of observation and experimentation. Conveying a wealth of historical detail in an accessible, jargon-free style, Moran provides a fascinating corrective to simplistic notions of the origins of modern science. Photos. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A study of how alchemy contributed to the rise of science. Moran (History/Univ. Nevada at Reno) argues that alchemy, often depicted as bearing the same relation to chemistry that astrology does to astronomy, was a far more experimental and practical-oriented field of study than is commonly believed. Alchemy, he points out, developed over the course of several centuries, with its practitioners bringing a wide range of assumptions and methods to bear. While the modern image of alchemy focuses on the philosopher's stone and the transmutation of base metals to gold, there was always a strong element of medicine and pharmacy in the art. Paracelsus (1493?-1541), one of the central figures in the spread of alchemical doctrine, was in his time perceived primarily as a physician. He saw practical experience as a superior source of knowledge to academic theory, and he urged the physician/alchemist to discover the powers of natural substances to cure illnesses rather than relying on theory. And, as much as any modern chemist, he emphasized precision in weighing and measuring the ingredients in his "recipes." When his teachings began to enter into the universities, it was the beginning of the systematic study of chemistry. Moran also makes much of the interest of such scientific pioneers as Galileo, Newton and Boyle in alchemy, pointing out that the alchemists' recipes and techniques were frequently the foundation of later chemical theory. What he generally ignores is that the alchemists' own theoretical speculations, such as Paracelsus' contention that matter was a mixture of salt, sulfur and mercury, contributed little to the advances of Lavoisier and the other pioneers of scientific chemistry. There's a certain merit in Moran's suggestion that alchemy should be recognized as a valid early science. Unfortunately, though, his plodding rehearsal of it is unlikely to get many readers excited. Provocative thesis, flat rendition. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
