ROBERT BOYLE (1627-1691), the “Father of Chemistry”, was the most influential scientist born in Ireland. His impact on chemistry has been likened to that of Copernicus (1473-1543) on cosmology. Apart ...

The story of the first porcelain made in Europe gives some insight into the older threads, like alchemy, that are woven into modern chemistry, says Roald Hoffmann, a professor of humane letters in the ...

Alchemy is making a comeback. No, wizards have not learned how to transmute lead into gold and they haven't found any rejuvenating elixir of life. But the scholars who write the history of science and ...

What has long been seen as a deluded effort to turn base metals into gold is being reassessed by researchers as a serious precursor to chemistry in which women were heavily involved. About 20 years ...

An engraved plate attributed to Augsburg printmaker Martin Engelbrecht in the early eighteenth century depicts an 18th-century engraving of a ragged, impoverished alchemist. Before he was a well-known ...

Chemistry is the study of the composition, structure, properties and change of matter, a definition that has surprising resonance with the everyday concerns of the writer. The American author Bonnie ...