Modern Alchemy

"It has been rarely noted that the birth of atomic science coincided with an efflorescence of occultism and alchemical tropes that attached deep significance to questions about the nature of matter and energy." "Mark S. Morrisson explores this brief revival of scientific interest in alchemy and its connections to the emerging subatomic sciences of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He shows that a resurfacing of occult circles and alchemical tropes had a traceable impact upon the science of the day. He reveals unexpected interactions between science and the occult, such as the Alchemical Society in London (1912-1915), the research program of "clairvoyant chemistry," and the attempts of academic chemists, inspired by the alchemy revival, to transmute the elements - even to make gold." "Morrisson's research uncovers the story of how this alchemical revival influenced, and was in turn shaped by, conceptions of matter emerging from the new science of radioactivity. Examining scientists' publications, correspondence, talks, and laboratory notebooks as well as the writings of occultists, alchemical tomes, and science-fiction stories, Morrisson argues that as modern nuclear physics was born, the trajectories of science and occultism - usually seen as antithetical - briefly converged."--Jacket.

Year

2007

Language

English

Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

Editions

3

Pages

262

ISBN

9780195306965

Data source: Wikidata