Alchemy
From SkepticWiki
[edit] Definition
Alchemy was a pseudoscientific (or perhaps protoscientific) practice combining (in Europe) late medieval and Renaissance natural philosophy with principles of magic. Alchemists performed a wide variety of experiments in search of three main goals: first, to transmute any metal (or other substance) into gold (or sometimes silver); second, to develop a universal "panacea," a substance capable of curing all diseases; and third, to develop a method of prolonging life indefinitely.
[edit] Discussion
Although alchemists failed at these goals, they did make a number of useful and interesting discoveries. For example, alchemists discovered distillation, and applied this discovery to create new acids such as "aqua fortis," known today as nitric acid. (Prior to the alchemists' discoveries, the most powerful reagent known was vinegar.) Alchemists are often considered to have laid the foundations of modern chemistry, and many early scientists such as Isaac Newton and Roger Bacon are known to have studied and experimented in alchemy.
