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SUMMARY:Practically Making the Philosophers' Stone: Recreating Alchemical 
 Experiments - Dr Jennifer Rampling (Dept of History of Science\, Cambridge
  University)
DTSTART:20131010T180000Z
DTEND:20131010T190000Z
UID:TALK44951@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:John O'Toole
DESCRIPTION:A lecture on the History of Science.\n\nAlchemy was essentiall
 y a practical art\, whose practitioners sought to achieve marvellous yet c
 oncrete outcomes\, from the prolongation of life to the transmutation of b
 ase metals into gold and silver. Some historians of science have sought to
  recover early chemical knowledge by testing the alchemists’ claims in m
 odern laboratories. However\, these medieval and early modern experiments 
 present particular problems for re-enactment. Alchemists often disguised t
 he practical content of their recipes using metaphorical language and fabu
 lous imagery. And\, while recipes may start with standard\, recognisable p
 rocedures\, their outcomes often seem impossible to modern eyes. In this p
 aper\, I shall introduce my own attempts to decipher and recreate some med
 ieval English experiments. I’ll seek to answer a question that has plagu
 ed both historians and chemists: why did so many intelligent people in ear
 ly modern Europe devote their lives to alchemy\, when we know it doesn’t
  work? \n\nDr Jennifer Rampling is interested in the history of alchemy\, 
 medicine and natural philosophy and early modern European intellectual his
 tory. She undertook a Wellcome Trust-funded project\, 'Medicine and the Ma
 king of English Alchemy\, 1300–1700'. She has held visiting fellowships 
 at the Chemical Heritage Foundation\, Philadelphia (2009)\; the Scaliger I
 nstitute\, University of Leiden (2010)\; and the University of Athens (201
 1). As a visitor at the Department of Chemistry\, Cambridge\, she is engag
 ed in recreating early chemical experiments.
LOCATION:Pfizer Lecture Theatre\, Department of Chemistry\, Lensfield Road
 \, Cambridge
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