alchemist

(noun)

A person who practices this philosophical and protoscientific tradition, which aimed to purify, mature, and perfect certain objects, such as the transmutation of "base metals" (e.g. lead) into "noble" ones (particularly gold) and the creation of an elixir of immortality.

Related Terms

Examples of alchemist in the following topics:

  • The Qin Dynasty

    • He became increasingly obsessed with immortality and employed many alchemists and sorcerers.

  • Christine de Pizan

    • Following her birth, Thomas de Pizan accepted an appointment to the court of Charles V of France, as the king's astrologer, alchemist, and physician.

  • The Hohenzollerns

    • He granted governance of Brandenburg to his eldest son John the Alchemist, while retaining the electoral dignity for himself.

  • Arts and Sciences

    • Under the tuition of Grosseteste and inspired by the writings of Arab alchemists who had preserved and built upon Aristotle's portrait of induction, Bacon described a repeating cycle of observation, hypothesis, and experimentation, and the need for independent verification.