The alchemists thought they knew what they were doing—although we may
now think that their targets were chimeras. As the “al” gradually faded out to
leave plain chemists, the science became rational. In Laws and Order in
18th-Century Chemistry (Oxford University Press, £50, ISBN 0 19 855806 6),
Alastair Duncan traces the development of this process as chemists began to
create models and predictive theories, travelling from acid spirits and
absorbent earth to modern chemistry.
More from ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ articles
1
Pancreatic cancer halted by virus injection in three patients
2
Does gravity create reality? A shocking path to a theory of everything
3
The best new science-fiction books of June 2026
4
Photons behave very strangely if you try to cut them
5
Mathematical AI helps researchers crack 50-year-old problem
6
Glaciers in the 'roof of the world' have suddenly started melting
7
Millions of planets might form around supermassive black holes
8
Mathematicians stunned by AI's biggest breakthrough in mathematics yet
9
Earliest use of anaesthetics uncovered in Chinese doctor’s tomb
10
Q-Day could destroy bitcoin – and our retirement savings
