what is alchemy?

Answer 1

It is the origin of chemistry. It mainly concerned the transmutation of elements into other elements. Two of the main goals of ancient alchemy was to discover the philosophers stone and the transforming base metals in to gold.

Answer 2

The word has Arabic origins-- it might refer to "The Black Lands" (referring to Egypt, which was supposed to be the source of ancient hidden knowledge), or it might refer to a Greek word for fusion of metals.

Some of it was legitimate science and some of it was superstition. It spread to Europe due to interaction between Europeans going to the Holy Land during the Crusades, and the Moors (West African Muslims) who ruled Spain and Sicily for several hundred years.

The following is copied from a web site about Islamic Alchemy:

First of all the word 'alchemy', as the article al- indicates, is Arabic (al-klmya'). The origin of the word kimya', pre-Arabic, is arguable. Several more or less plausible or legendary hypotheses have been advanced. For some the word came from the Egyptian kemi (black), whence the Greek kemia which might indicate two things:
Egypt, 'the black land' according to Plutarch - alchemy would be preeminently the science of Egypt; 'the Black', the original matter of transmutation, i.e. the art of treating 'black metal' to produce precious metals.
For others, the word 'chemy' could have come from the Greek khymeia, 'fusion', i.e. the art of melting gold and silver. A Byzantine text states that Diocletian ordered the destruction of Egyptian books relating to khymeia, to the 'fusion' of gold and silver.

Answer 3

Most of these answers deal only with Western alchemy. In the East, mostly China, there was another version. It consisted mainly of utilizing substances (usually very rare and/or expensive) to prolong one's life. Eventually some found this to be too reliant on this universe for power, and started inner alchemy, which involves learning how to manipulate the energy within oneself to form various results.

Answer 4

Do you know the show FULL METAL Alchelmist

an alchemy has something to do with an Alchelmist.

Answer 5

My dad has studied Alchemy for years and when you get away from the Gold, Gold, Gold.... Which is what is said about it to hide the truth, it is personal transformation. Very much to do with the mind. Alchemists do use the metals as a gauge to watch how their personal transformation is going, but the point is not the metal it is the transformation of the mundane man to the higher man.

Answer 6

Alchemy is a medieval chemical philosophy having as its
asserted aims the transmutation of base metals into
gold, the discovery of the panacea, and the preparation
of the elixir of longevity.

Alchemy focused on the attempt to change base metals
into gold. Ancient alchemists believed that, under the
correct astrological conditions, lead could be
"perfected" into gold. They tried to hasten this
transformation by heating and refining the metal in a
variety of chemical processes, most of which were kept
secret. Alchemy was practiced in much of the ancient
world, from China and India to Greece. It migrated to
Egypt during the Hellenistic period and was later
revived in 12th-century Europe through translations of
Arabic texts into Latin. Medieval European alchemists
made some useful discoveries, including mineral acids
and alcohol. The revival led to the development of
pharmacology under the influence of Paracelsus and to
the rise of modern chemistry.

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Answer 7

Alchemy is a cross between science and magic that transfers energy to matter

Answer 8

Go To: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy

Answer 9

I was interested in this question once when my son and I were talking about the making of swords in the middle ages. Here's what I found from dictionary.com:

1. a form of chemistry and speculative philosophy practiced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and concerned principally with discovering methods for transmuting baser metals into gold and with finding a universal solvent and an elixir of life.
2. any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value.

Answer 10

The quest to turn useless lead into gold. Being only one proton apart on the peroidic chart, it seems plausible, right? Watch Bruce Willis's "Hudson Hawk" for more insight.