Two corrections: Empedocles was the first to propose that matter is divided into fire, air, water, and earth (1:09). Also, "phosphorous" originally comes from the Greek word for light-bearing, not Latin (2:18). Thanks to everyone who pointed that out!
You forgot the goth element that was banned by the priests with torture death For even talking about the goth element Either since you don’t mention it I think that there suppression of it still holds true
I thought that there main or pretend task Was to make gold from lead I understand that the philosophy stone Was actually mono atomic gold But there secret art is hidden history
I wonder what happened to Alchemists in Europe when their laboratories were financed by European Kings. Interesting to see how involved they got into mining and banking. Interesting to research what happened to alchemists when glass manufacturing was automated. Don't follow false prophets.
No joke, "Oil of Vitriol" is actually where the word "vitriolic" takes its etymological roots from, rather than the other way around! "Vitriol" derives from the latin "Vitrum", meaning glass; being originally derived from sulphates is the link between acid and glass. Sulphates have a kind of shiny, glass-like appearance, and so copper sulphate is also known as blue vitriol, zinc sulphate as white vitriol, iron sulphate is green vitriol and cobalt sulphate is red vitriol. Thus, the corrosive substance derived from these vitriols was known as "oil of vitriol". From there, the word "vitriolic" meaning hostile, caustic, biting, very severe etc. (all pretty apt descriptions of even a dilute solution of sulphuric acid!) eventually made its way into modern English TMYK!
You can actually turn lead into gold. All you need is a particle accelerator, enormous amounts of energy and extremely low expectations of how much gold you'll get. Like several radioactive isotopes worth of gold.
you can also make a nuclear reactor and bombard lead with radioactive decay, at just the right distance it'll turn into gold and basically just sit there long enough to see it's changed and get it out of there, don't worry it only sets off most geiger counters
I love how humanity, for a long time, was like that kid who wanted to make "potions" by mixing random amounts of random liquids and solids to see what they'd get
lmao, I remember doing this in primary school. I would sharpen lead pencils to get graphite (thinking it was lead at the time), as well as the wood shavings, and mix it with dirt, water, leaves, sticks, basically anything I could get my hands on, and try to create anything I could. I also used a rubber (eraser as other people call it), and got the rubber pieces to collect to also mix in other things. I even tried to crush pencil shavings (both graphite and wood), as small as possible to allow them to mix easier, etc. I had a lot of fun doing it. Probably the reason i love chemistry now
Science was pretty much "throwing stuff on a wall and check what stick it". The understanding of the world and the tools they had was pretty limited so that was the best they could do. But even now, sometime, some stuff still get find by random try or just luck.
@@bobbobber4810 , An important step in science is getting others to throw your stuff against the wall to verify what sticks. I have always marveled that our greatest scientific question is still 'what happens if I hit two of them together?'
Was like a kid? We still are like kids really. This is only the age of verification. Where our technology and societal acceptance of many of these sciences are now being proven or disproven in various ways. There's still many crazy theories about our galaxy, and universe being made today. Which will only be proven in 100-200 years as the same thing happens around those theories.
@@Camerz i mean i was that kid too. And now actually studying chem wanting to be a product developer. I also found a lot of fun when a project of mine got me to "choose plant to get as much out of" and that research was even fun. And coming up with own protocol.
@cak01vej It was meant to be more of a tongue in cheek statement to be honest! As Ireland and Scotland have a friendly rivalry as to the origin of the whiskies that we know today!
One interesting thing about sulfuric acid is that when it’s highly concentrated, it actually looks like an oil, so the name “oil of vitriol” isn’t so strange.
I once once got a drop of the stuff on my shirt and boy,it will eat right through clothing. Thankfully my shirt neutralized the acid before it got to my skin.
Lexy Starwatcher, I hate getting battery acid on clothes. You think you’re okay, and then you wash them, and they’re full of holes! A girl in my organic chemistry class accidentally set her elbow in a drop of it the concentrated stuff. It didn’t get far before she felt it and washed it off, and the lab instructor neutralized the residue, but it did give her a noticeable burn.
My guess is that "Lucifer" was connected with the Devil so the scientific community decided to adopt the Greek name! By the way, the Greek name for the character of Lucifer is Εωσφόρος the dawn bringer!
Carbon monoxide is just one of the things Brand was lucky not to have been killed by... white phosphorus itself (which is the type of phosphorus you get through this process) is pyrophoric, burning very hot in contact with air (reason why it emits light, and why it’s now a banned weapon) and very toxic, breathing in its vapors could cause a condition known as “phossy jaw” and if bad enough, death.
Most of what we know here in the west is about middle-east and europe - would love to see topics like alchemy/chemistry, physics, mathematics of east(ish) asia, what we know about how they fared in the meantime.
Good luck with that. I'd like to see a novel involving alchemy that doesn't just have the Philosopher's Stone for once. The science alchemy eventually evolved into us fascinating, and even if you're going the magical angle, the Philosopher's Stone was a fusion of two previous concepts, the Prima Materia and the Universal Panacea.
A delayed "Happy New Year" for you Hank. Thanks for all your beautiful work in 2020 and, in advance, for all the work you'll do in 2021. The world is a better place thanks to SciShow, CrashCourse and everything else. Cheers o/
Originally, the concept of turning "base metals" into "gold" was a metaphor for purifying the mind and spirit through the practice of philosophy. People in the middle ages read ancient works about it and accidentally took it literally.
The irony indeed. Probably for about 50 years it would still hold value but not long after that. We'd nowadays be talking about gold in the same vain as we do about people trading seashells or rice as currency.
@@zuttoaragi8349 Aluminum is a perfect example of this, before we figured out how to synthesize it, it used to be extremely expensive, but now you can pick a roll of it for like $2 at your local grocery store
@@theangelbelow88 I always love shocking people by telling them aluminium used to be hella expensive. Most of them never believe me (the desired response) so I just prove it to them.
Wouldn't have mattered to the guy to actually discover it though. They would have made themselves(or whomever they served) rich before the bubble burst.
I think most early alchemists were afraid of other alchemists seeing their notes because that would leave them subject to .... (I’m so sorry for this punch line....) subject to ... pee review. Look, I said I was sorry, ok? WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME?? 😂😂😂
@@ABlueOrb I have a skull with alchemical symbols all over it in my dashboard. Some people think I’m a Devil worshipper and some ask about it, I’m just gonna go with devil worshiper in the future it’s a lot less effort.😈
As a curious child in chemistry I believe I was and still am an alchemist at heart. Just mix together all the stuff and hope you don’t die. Everything from synthesizing plastic in organic chemistry to low key making something that is maybe a bit explosive or maybe some jet fuel is just fun.
I discovered the secret of alchemy years ago. Step 1: Get a bunch of Blue Butterfly Wing, Chaurus Hunter Antennae, Hagraven Claw and Snowberries. Step 2: Craft Fortify Alchemy potions. Step 3: Drink potion. Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3. Step 5: ???? Step 6: Profit.
I could talk hours on the mythology of ES alchemy, my love of chemistry bleeds into game, short bit: the sun and stars bathe Nirn with magical energy which plants and animals absorb. When you mix them with solvents you release that energy. The best bit is that any one can do it. You just need teeth and saliva.
Depends on which alchemist you ask. Most will probably deny any relation with alchemy whatsoever but among those who do answer there will be variegated opinions.
finally video about alchemy. most underrated field in history its usually made it seems unrealistic and magical and usually focused in the negative side but thats is far from the truth Alchemy made importants contributions to chemistry.for example Alchemists made gunpowder, ceramics, glass, ceramics, ink, dyes, paints, cosmetics, extracts, liquors .and Alchemists were the first to conceptualized chemical elements into the first rudimentary periodic tables also they were the first people to make drugs and there are many many things they contribute and its has been famous knowns in many civilization (greeks.persians.Chinese.indian.arabs)
As a person of science I've done research on the Philosophers Stone. I came to the conclusion it might not be a material, but a philosophical idea or concept; Some kind of core belief.
plor twist: alchemy didn't fade away, but alchemists became more secretive about their work and discoveries... they don't use that much urine anymore too
@Black_Rhino 241 Also Knight of the Zodiac-Saint Seiya fans. The Aries Gold Saints are Mu Alchemists since they’re are known and feared to create Elixir and transmute Lead into Gold at ease. Their biggest technique is transmuting starlight into orichalcum, god-tiered metal.
I have a creeping feeling that Alchemists knew how improbable it was for them to create a philosophers stone, but they knew what people in power wanted: Gold & Eternal life, so as long as they claimed to be searching for something that could grant exactly that, people in power let them stick around, maybe even funded some of them, because IF they ever WOULD discover the secret of turning lead into gold or eternal life, all the better! So that way, Alchemists were allowed to be, exploring whatever project they desired to experiment with, like boiling huge amounts of human piss...
Considering alchemicy eventually led to nuclear chemistry, I'd say we found the lead to gold part of the philosphers stone (not the immortality, enlightenment, or metaphor parts). We just also found out it isn't cost effective
Sulfuric acid to unclog the drain? We use sodium hydroxide, because it dissolves hair and fat very well and doesn't react with metals. It also works great to get rid of coffee and tea stains
9:40 People talk about competition breeds innovation. But the hypercompetitive and secretive nature of the alchemists actively stifled them. It was peer review processes that helped things to not be rediscovered over and over again, and helped move forward one finding to it’s next step.
In the Netherlands we use the term "strong water" for preserving organisms in liquid (sterk water) in a jar. It's usually a solution of formaldehyde or ethanol.
Isn't the concept of Philosopher's Stone closer to the early modern period? It was a combination of two different older concepts, the Prima Materia and the Universal Panacea, which each only did one part of what the Philosopher's Stone, the former wasn't even a catalyst, it was more of a hypothesized state of matter that could be converted into any other form of matter, and the latter wasn't just an immortality drug, it was a cure for all ills, including age.
"For it is the [task] of natural science not simply to accept what we are told but to inquire into the causes of natural things." St. Albert the Great, pray for us.
SciShow -> I just want you guys to know, I have a very short "heroes list," around 10 people are on it. You guys make my list. I love what you do, and provide for free for people to watch, and present knowledge in such a manor that it can be entertaining to watch. Thank you and keep doing what you do!
Great segment. I hope you also cover Issac Newton's alchemy work and how the concept of repulsion and attraction in alchemy influenced his concept of gravity.
Yes. Fully 2/3rds of Newton's writings are fairly whackdoodle alchemy -- not rigorous investigation like his optics or physics or calculus -- and end-of-days religious mysticism. We ignore that part of his output, but he was deeply invested in it.
