The Transmutations of Chymistry: Wilhelm Homberg and the Académie Royale des Sciences (Synthesis)

This book reevaluates the changes to chymistry that took place from 1660 to 1730 through a close study of the chymist Wilhelm Homberg (1653–1715) and the changing fortunes of his discipline at the Académie Royale des Sciences, France’s official scientific body. By charting Homberg’s remarkable life from Java to France’s royal court, and his endeavor to create a comprehensive theory of chymistry (including alchemical transmutation), Lawrence M. Principe reveals the period’s significance and reassesses its place in the broader sweep of the history of science. Principe, the leading authority on the subject, recounts how Homberg’s radical vision promoted chymistry as the most powerful and reliable means of understanding the natural world. Homberg’s work at the Académie and in collaboration with the future regent, Philippe II d’Orléans, as revealed by a wealth of newly uncovered documents, provides surprising new insights into the broader changes chymistry underwent during, and immediately after, Homberg. A human, disciplinary, and institutional biography, The Transmutations of Chymistry significantly revises what was previously known about the contours of chymistry and scientific institutions in the early eighteenth century. "This book resurrects science history between Robert Boyle and Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier by telling the story of a remarkable genius who devised an innovative, comprehensive, and experimentally based theory of alchemy/chemistry (called chymistry) that was widely celebrated and adopted both in his own time and after. Wilhelm Homberg (1653-1715) is a bridge between traditions: he held an expansive vision for chymistry as a natural philosophical discipline while at the same time continued to pursue metallic transmutation, only lightly veiled in his official publications. In Lawrence M. Principe's hands, Holmberg's life and work, particularly at the Académie Royale, provide new insights on several of the significant changes that chymistry underwent during and immediately after his lifetime. This new biography radically revises what was previously known about the contours of chymistry and scientific institutions in the early eighteenth century"-- Provided by publisher Contents List of Figures and Tables List of Abbreviations Acknowledgments Introduction 1 A Merchant of the Marvelous 2 A Batavian in Paris 3 Essaying Chymistry 4 A New Chymical Light 5 Chrysopoeia at the Académie and the Palais Royal 6 Chymistry in Homberg’s Later Years: Practices, Promises, Poisons, and Prisons 7 Homberg’s Legacy Epilogue: Homberg and the Transmutations of Chymistry at the Académie Note on Sources Sources Cited Index A merchant of the marvelous -- A Batavian in Paris -- Essaying chymistry -- A new chymical light -- Chrysopoeia at the AcadeÌ1mie and the Palais Royal -- Chymistry in Homberg's later years : practices, promises, poisons, and prisons -- Homberg's legacy -- Epilogue: Homberg and the transmutations of chymistry at the AcadeÌ1mie