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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Alternative belief systems > Occult studies > Magic, alchemy & hermetic thought

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The Aspiring Adept - Robert Boyle and His Alchemical Quest (Paperback, Revised) Loot Price: R1,732
Discovery Miles 17 320
The Aspiring Adept - Robert Boyle and His Alchemical Quest (Paperback, Revised): Lawrence Principe

The Aspiring Adept - Robert Boyle and His Alchemical Quest (Paperback, Revised)

Lawrence Principe

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Loot Price R1,732 Discovery Miles 17 320 | Repayment Terms: R162 pm x 12*

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"The Aspiring Adept" presents a provocative new view of Robert Boyle (1627-1691), one of the leading figures of the Scientific Revolution, by revealing for the first time his avid and lifelong pursuit of alchemy. Boyle has traditionally been considered, along with Newton, a founder of modern science because of his mechanical philosophy and his experimentation with the air-pump and other early scientific apparatus. However, Lawrence Principe shows that his alchemical quest--hidden first by Boyle's own codes and secrecy, and later suppressed or ignored--positions him more accurately in the intellectual and cultural crossroads of the seventeenth century.

Principe radically reinterprets Boyle's most famous work, "The Sceptical Chymist," to show that it criticizes not alchemists, as has been thought, but "unphilosophical" pharmacists and textbook writers. He then shows Boyle's unambiguous enthusiasm for alchemy in his "lost" "Dialogue on the Transmutation and Melioration of Metals," now reconstructed from scattered fragments and presented here in full for the first time. Intriguingly, Boyle believed that the goal of his quest, the Philosopher's Stone, could not only transmute base metals into gold, but could also attract angels. Alchemy could thus act both as a source of knowledge and as a defense against the growing tide of atheism that tormented him. In seeking to integrate the seemingly contradictory facets of Boyle's work, Principe also illuminates how alchemy and other "unscientific" pursuits had a far greater impact on early modern science than has previously been thought.

General

Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of origin: United States
Release date: October 2000
First published: October 2000
Authors: Lawrence Principe
Dimensions: 235 x 152 x 19mm (L x W x T)
Format: Paperback - Trade
Pages: 340
Edition: Revised
ISBN-13: 978-0-691-05082-9
Categories: Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > General
Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues > History of science
Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Alternative belief systems > Occult studies > Magic, alchemy & hermetic thought
Books > Biography > General
Books > Religion & Spirituality > Alternative belief systems > Occult studies > Magic, alchemy & hermetic thought
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LSN: 0-691-05082-1
Barcode: 9780691050829

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