About Alchemists

About Alchemists Cover When we think of alchemy, we think of magicians trying to change lead into gold. Yet alchemy was actually the study of chemistry from the 3rd century BC all the way through the next 2000 years. The word probably comes from the Greek chemeia, which meant to transmute or change matter; and that's what alchemy, like chemistry itself, has always been concerned with. Alchemy originated when Aristotle took up an older idea that all matter combined the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. He guessed that these elements could be changed -- transmuted -- by the action of heat and cold, or dampness and dryness. Aristotle's ideas were developed first by the Greeks after him, and then by Arab scientists. From time to time, alchemy mired itself in metaphysical razzle-dazzle. The practical Romans had no taste for it at all. So, as civilization spread North into Europe, alchemy all but vanished until the 13th and 14th centuries, when scholars began to reread the old Greek and Arabic texts. Of course, alchemy promised great wealth to anyone who figured out how to transmute other metals into gold. It might seem a waste that so many alchemists devoted their lives to that, but the spin-off was enormous. By trying to understand transmutation, they learned about practical metallurgy, about extracting metals from ores, and about chemical reaction. Their results were reported in terms alien to our ears, but the late medieval chemists were suprisingly able metallurgists. Late-17th-century chemists saw matter as made up of three elements, or "earths," as they were called: Vitreous earth gave solidity to matter; fluid earth gave it liquidity; and fatty earth, which was later called phlogiston, gave it combustibility. These were the old Aristotelian elements of earth, water, and fire -- without air! Air was thought to be inert and not a part of other materials. All the while, a more and more analytical science was being built on these ideas. The alchemical view of matter didn't give way to an atomic theory until less than two hundred years ago. And then it didn't give way completely. When people realized that heat wasn't a part of matter, they replaced phlogiston with caloric. Caloric was another Aristotelian substance that occupied all matter and flowed from hot bodies to cold ones. Even after the atomic theory of matter replaced the various earths, caloric was still being used to describe heat when my grandfather was a little boy. So before we write alchemy off as voodoo magic, we'd better ask what our own chemistry will look like in the 22nd century. I'm John Lienhard, at the University of Houston, where we're interested in the way inventive minds work.

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History Of Alchemy

History Of Alchemy Cover
From an early period the Egyptians possessed the reputation of being skillful workers in metals and, according to Greek writers, they were conversant with their transmutation, employing quicksilver in the process of separating gold and silver from the native matrix. The resulting oxide was supposed to possess marvelous powers, and it was thought that there resided within in the individualities of the various metals, that in it their various substances were incorporated. This black powder was mystically identified with the underworld form of the god Osiris, and consequently was credited with magical properties. Thus there grew up in Egypt the belief that magical powers existed in fluxes and alloys. Probably such a belief existed throughout Europe in connection with the bronze-working castes of its several races. Its was probably in the Byzantium of the fourth century, however, that alchemical science received embryonic form. There is little doubt that Egyptian tradition, filtering through Alexandrian Hellenic sources was the foundation upon which the infant science was built, and this is borne out by the circumstance that the art was attributed to Hermes Trismegistus and supposed to be contained in its entirety in his works. The Arabs, after their conquest of Egypt in the seventh century, carried on the researches of the Alexandrian school, and through their instrumentality the art was brought to Morocco and thus in the eighth century to Spain, where it flourished exceedingly. Indeed, Spain from the ninth to the eleventh century became the repository of alchemic science, and the colleges of Seville, Cordova and Granada were the centers from which this science radiated throughout Europe. The first practical alchemist may be said to have been the Arbian Geber, who flourished 720-750. From his "Summa Perfectionis", we may be justified in assuming that alchemical science was already matured in his day, and that he drew his inspirations from a still older unbroken line of adepts. He was followed by Avicenna, Mesna and Rhasis, and in France by Alain of Lisle, Arnold de Villanova and Jean de Meung the troubadour; in England by Roger Bacon and in Spain itself by Raymond Lully. Later, in French alchemy the most illustrious names are those of Flamel (b. ca. 1330), and Bernard Trevisan (b. ca. 1460) after which the center of of interest changes to Germany and in some measure to England, in which countries Paracelsus, Khunrath (ca. 1550), Maier (ca. 1568), Norton, Dalton, Charnock, and Fludd kept the alchemical flame burning brightly. It is surprising how little alteration we find throughout the period between the seventh and the seventeenth centuries, the heyday of alchemy, in the theory and practice of the art. The same sentiments and processes are found expressed in the later alchemical authorities as in the earliest, and a wonderful unanimity as regards the basic canons of the great art is evinced by the hermetic students of the time. On the introduction of chemistry as a practical art, alchemical science fell into desuetude and disrepute, owing chiefly to the number of charlatans practicing it, and by the beginning of the eighteenth century, as a school, it may be said to have become defunct. Here and there, however, a solitary student of the art lingered, and in the department of this article "Modern Alchemy" will demonstrate that the science has to a grate extent revived during modern times, although it has never been quite extinct. Taken from a 1960 reprint of "AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF OCCULTISM", by Lewis Spence; University Press, Hyde Park, New York. Originally Published in 1920, it is considered to be one of the most complete texts on the subject.

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Ahmad Ibn Imad Ul Din

Ahmad Ibn Imad Ul Din Cover
Ahmad ibn Imad al-din, was a Persian physician and alchemist. He was probably from Nishapur. He was the author of an alchemical treatise titled On the Art of the Elixir (or Fi sina'at al-iksir) which is preserved in the National Library of Medicine. No other copy has been identified, and the author is not listed in the published bibliographies of Islamic writers on alchemy. He wrote the alchemical treatise titled On the Art of the Elixir (or Fi sina'at al-iksir), in which he describes various Chemical Reactions. The manuscript copy is undated, but appears to be of the 17th or 18th century. In it, there is extensive marginalia giving citations from Jabir ibn Hayyan.

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Saint Thomas Aquinas

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Saint Thomas Aquinas [Thomas of Aquin, or Aquino] was an Italian Catholic philosopher and theologian in the scholastic tradition, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Universalis. He is the most famous classical proponent of natural theology. He gave birth to the Thomistic school of philosophy, which was long the primary philosophical approach of the Catholic Church. He is considered by the Catholic Church to be its greatest theologian; he is one of the thirty-three Doctors of the Church. Also, many institutions of learning have been named after him.

The birth-year of Thomas Aquinas is commonly given as 1227, but he was probably born early in 1225 at his father's castle of Roccasecea (75 m. e.s.e. of Rome) in Neapolitan territory.

He died at the monastery of Fossanova, one mile from Sonnino (64 m. s.e. of Rome), Mar. 7, 1274.

His father was Count Landulf of an old high-born south Italian family, and his mother was Countess Theodora of Theate, of noble Norman descent.

In his fifth year he was sent for his early education to the monastery of Monte Cassino, where his father's brother Sinibald was abbot.

Later he studied in Naples.

Probably in 1243 he determined to enter the Dominican order; but on the way to Rome he was seized by his brothers and brought back to his parents at the castle of S. Giovanni, where he was held a captive for a year or two and besieged with prayers, threats, and even sensual temptation to make him relinquish his purpose.

Finally the family yielded and the order sent Thomas to Cologne to study under Albertus Magnus, where he arrived probably toward the end of 1244. He accompanied Albertus to Paris in 1245, remained there with his teacher, continuing his studies for three years, and followed Albertus at the latter's return to Cologne in 1248.

For several years longer he remained with the famous philosopher of scholasticism, presumably teaching. This long association of Thomas with the great polyhistor was the most important influence in his development; it made him a comprehensive scholar and won him permanently for the Aristotelian method.

In 1252 probably Thomas went to Paris for the master's degree, which he found some difficulty in attaining owing to attacks, at that time on the mendicant orders.

Ultimately, however, he received the degree and entered ceremoniously Upon his office of teaching in 1257; he taught in Paris for several years and there wrote certain of his works and began others.

In 1259 he was present at an important chapter of his order at Valenciennes, At the solicitation of Pope Urban IV. (therefore not before the latter part of 1261), he took up his residence in Rome.

In 1269-71 he was again active in Paris. In 1272 the provincial chapter at Florence empowered him to found a new studium generale at such place as he should choose, and he selected Naples. Early in 1274 the pope directed Mm to attend the Council of Lyons and he undertook the journey, although he was far from well.

On the way he stopped at the castle of a niece and there became seriously ill. He wished to end his days in a monastery and not being able to reach a house of the, Dominicans he was carried to the Cistercian Fossanova.

There, first, after his death, his remains were preserved.

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Alexandre Saint Yves Dalveydre The Archeometre

Alexandre Saint Yves Dalveydre The Archeometre Cover lexandre St. Yves d'Alveydre, Together With contemporaries like Eliphas Levi, Maitre Philippe, and Fabre d'Olivet, belonged to the most influential spiritual teachers/philosophers of France in the 19th century. Saint-Yves may be looked upon as a 19th century profound thinker, philosopher and mystic. Being an occultistand alchemist, Saint-Yves believed in the existence of spiritually superior beings. These 'beings' could be contacted telepathically. Apparently Saint-Yves claimed that he was in touch with these 'superiors' himself, as a matter of fact the principles of Synarchy were partially received telepathically from these Masters who lived in the mysterious underworld realm known as Agartha. Thus d'Alveydre introduced the concept of "Agartha" to the Western world. The myth of "Agartha" is also known as "Shambhala", as it was known in India, the underworld realm peopled by initiates and lead by 'the Masters", Masters who are the Spiritual leaders of humanity. Agartha is the great Asian University of the Initiates of the Greater Mysteries. Their 'Mahatma' ('Great Soul') plays the part of the supreme spiritual leader of humanity. According to Saint-Yves the secret world of "Agartha" and all of its wisdom and wealth "will be accessible for all mankind, when Christianity lives up to the commandments which were once drafted by Moses and Jesus, meaning ' When the Anarchy which exists in our world is replaced by the Synarchy". Saint-Yves gives a 'lively' description of "Agartha" in this book as if it were a place which really exists, situated in the Himalayas in Tibet. Saint-Yves' version of the history of "Agartha" is based upon ' revealed' information, meaning received by Saint-Yves himself through 'attunement'. However, several French 'reliable' sources state that Saint-Yves was NOT a medium. We've seen that Saint-Yves used a medium, a certain Marie Victoire, when he wrote the "Archeometre". It seems that "the sources" disagree with each other when it comes to Saint-Yves' gifts. St. Yves d'Alveydre was incredibly influential in the development of 19th century occultism. The concept of Agartha and its Masters had a big influence on the teachings of Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophic Society . Blavatsky also 'promoted' one of Saint-Yves' other concepts, namely the idea of 'root races' ; a 'root race' dominated a long period in history, "destined to be supplanted by the next superior race ". The concept of "root races" can also be found in the writings of Alice A.Bail, Rudolf Steiner and Max Heindel. On the matter of Atlantis - Saint-Yves believed the Atlantis was an advanced superior civilization. According to Saint-Yves the Sphinx was built by the Atlanteans, many thousands of years before the rise of Egypt. Saint-Yves placed the downfall of Atlantis at around 12,000 B.C. Another source of inspiration for Saint-Yves were the medieval Knights Templar, which he regarded as the ultimate Synarchists in history. After all, the Knights Templar exerted control over the political, financial, and religious life of medieval Europe. These three pillars of medieval society corresponded with Saint-Yves' model of Synarchy. Saint-Yves was influenced by the many neo-Templar societies that were flourishing in his day. He incorporated many of their ideas, in particular from a Masonic-Templar order called "the Rite of Strict Observance", which was founded around 1740-1750 by German Karl von Hund. Saint Yves borrowed the concept of "Unknown Superiors" from Von Hund , however he expanded the concept into "spiritually advanced beings that lived in a remote part of Tibet", aka "Agartha".

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Dr Paracelsus Teacher

Dr Paracelsus Teacher Cover Every human being lives and acts according to that which they believe to be right at the time. Later, perhaps, for some more often than not, that which was right to do yesterday seems wrong on retrospect today. Each action however can only truly be assessed within the context of the prevailing circumstances and environment. How few there are who follow their own inner sense of right and wrong and allow others to do likewise, without interfering. It is extraordinary how often the name 'Paracelsus' is found dotted throughout esoteric and exoteric literature. He is as fine an example of the archetype 'Genius Angry at a Bureaucratic World' as you are likely to find anywhere in history books. Of course the doctors and scientists of today now laugh at how silly their ancestors of the sixteenth century were not to listen to one who knew so much, but this begs the question as to how warm a reception he would receive before a modern audience of undergraduates and Professors, whether of Orthodox or the so-called 'Alternative' persuasion. There is one major difficulty in writing anything worthwhile on this subject. No-one currently alive ever met the man. If we are interested - and why shouldn't we be - in finding out a little about one who in this case died, so we are told, on September 21st 1541, or (September 24th depending which book you read), we are obliged to rely on the pieced together accounts of the various historians, or read what he himself wrote. Aureolus Philippus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim, who called himself 'Paracelsus', was a rather prolific writer of short books on the subjects of Medicine, philosophy and Alchemy. At the time. Alchemy was a respected if often misused term used to describe a multitude of things relating chiefly to the process of purifying metals. To get rich quick, one simply needed to know an Alchemist and be given the correct 'lead into gold' recipe. Some Alchemists were hard working metallurgists, others were equally hard working con men. The third category - that of those who were actually engaged in the work of 'Raising Vibrations' as part of assisting in the Evolutionary Process and who as a test of their current batch of 'Medicine' would perhaps see if a little of it could raise a metal up a rung or two on the evolutionary ladder - hardly deserves a mention. They were so few and far between and in general so far from the public eye, that if one did a tour of the known Alchemists in a sixteenth century city, one could be fairly sure not to meet one of the latter group. Literature concerning Paracelsus deals chiefly with two things. It quotes verbatum from his books - or rather as close to verbatum as the translator can get, as the meanings of many words and concepts are hard to understand in any language. Or it traces his life from childhood in the woods of Switzerland, through to the bitterness and anger at the medieval scientific establishment that marked his later life. His life story seems to trigger a sympathetic response in many. We find in him a champion against the Stuffed Shirt. An example of one who favoured a direct, radical approach to the process of learning rather than the 'Do Not Rock The Boat Because It Is Too Lucrative' approach common to the medical schools of the day. He wished to teach in the common German language, much to the horror of those to whom the medieval latin was the proper language of the scholar. In the Basle market place we are told, in front of students, Professors and their current and prospective patients, he burned the books of the up to then God-like Avicenna. There are also references to an interesting set of experiments he wished to carry out on human faeces, the beginning of which, so the story goes, has him carrying a plate full into a class of, so we are told, rather overwhelmed medical students. The only text-book he showed any respect for was personal experience. He despised and condemned those medical students who graduated as doctors without having had any practical experience with the sick. If his writings are any indication of the contempt with which he held his peers the man himself must have been dynamite. Tact seems not to have been one of his most noted attributes. The European medical establishment became littered with embarrased doctors, who in an effort to protect the status quo made his life as difficult as they could. The establishments' main difficulty in this regard seems to have been Paracelsus' extraordinary success rate in treating all manner of diseases. As there is nothing the selfconceited dread more than being exposed for the fools they are, there was a limit to how far they could go in their anti-Paracelsian activities. Experience then as now, comes only one way. The hard way. From the mines of the Tyrol, among Gypsys and vagabonds, from Moscow to Cairo, through Ireland, Finland, Spain, the Middle East. For years he travelled, learning and experimenting, constantly adding to his store-house of knowledge and experience. Theory was fine, but only as a preliminary guide to how practice should proceed. If someone says 'I know', one assumes they are quoting their own practical experience, for what real value is a system based on another's experience? Approaching the works of Paracelsus can be a daunting exercise. Although more than many other authors of Alchemical literature he is committed to the open statement of the Truth as he sees it, so many of the concepts are so obscure by nature, for those not versed in his system, that the innocent student quickly becomes overwhelmed. As everything should be attempted with some purpose in mind, the question arises, why study the works of Paracelsus? For some, there seems to be some comfort in befuddling the brain with mysteries and secret things. The more mysterious and high-sounding a book, the more highly it is regarded. One gets lost in the idea of the great personages who can not only write but also understand these things. It gives a sense of temporary relief and comfort knowing that one possesses THIS book which contains all those amazing ideas. Pretty soon though, the effect wears off and one finds another book containing even more mysteries. Reading books is not a waste of time, but reading books that tell you to do things, without either the intention to do them and subsequent efforts in that direction, or the conscious intention not to do them but perhaps to compare them with things one is doing, is. After all we read books supposedly to learn things, but learning from another's experience is only possible when you make their experience become your experience by doing what they suggest. The books written by Paracelsus are not for everybody. It is wonderful that in this age of efficient communication they stare at you off many a bookshop and library shelf, but this does not alter the fact that they may not be the right thing for you, now. If on the other hand one perseveres with a study of his writings, they will gradually open up to the industrious unraveller great scope for practical experimentation. If the treasure-house of Alchemy has a series of doors, then the key to the first must surely be patience and hard work. These virtues Paracelsus requires of his readers. He obtained his knowledge the hard way and he does not easily part with it to those of the cursory glance. Do not expect an easy journey through this man's writings. He is as difficult dead as we are lead to believe he was when alive. There are many more comprehensible works on the bookstore shelves. Be content to be inspired by his biography and leave it at that, unless you truly wish to study what this great man has left us. Reading in this case is just not enough.

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Scraping Gold From Motherboards

Scraping Gold From Motherboards

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Alchemy Sacred Secrets Revealed Part 3

Alchemy Sacred Secrets Revealed Part 3

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Robert Boyle Biography

Robert Boyle Biography Cover The Honorable Robert Boyle (January 25, 1627 - December 30, 1691) was an Irish natural philosopher (chemist, physicist, and inventor) , noted for his work in physics and chemistry. Although his research and personal philosophy clearly has its roots in the alchemical tradition, he is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist. Among his works The Sceptical Chymist is seen as a cornerstone book in the field of chemistry. He was born at Lismore Castle, in the province of Munster, Ireland, as the seventh son and fourteenth child of Richard Boyle, the "Great Earl of Cork". While still a child he learned to speak Latin, Greek and French, and he was only eight years old when he was sent to Eton College, of which his father's friend, Sir Henry Wotton, was then provost. After spending over three years at the college, he went to travel abroad with a French tutor. Nearly two years were passed in Geneva; visiting Italy in 1641, he remained during the winter of that year in Florence, studying the "paradoxes of the great star-gazer" Galileo Galilei, who died within a league (3 miles) of the city early in 1642. Returning to England in 1645 he found that his father was hospitalized and had left him the manor of Stalbridge in Dorset, Together With estates in Ireland. From that time he gave up his life to study and scientific research, and soon took a prominent place in the band of inquirers, known as the "Invisible College," who devoted themselves to the cultivation of the "new philosophy." The Invisible College refers mainly to the intrinsic ideology of the free transfer of thought and technical expertise, usually carried out without the establishment of designated facilities or authority structure, spread by a loosely connected system of word-of-mouth referral or localized bulletin-board system, and supported through barter (i.e. trade of knowledge or services) or apprenticeship. In earlier times the term also included certain Hegelian aspects of secret societies and occultism. It is akin to the old guild system, yet holds no sway in recognized scholastic, technical or political circles. It is merely an attempt to circumvent bureaucratic or monetary obstacles by knowledgeable individuals and civic groups. Said entities generally feel a need to share their methods with fellow journeymen, so to speak, and to strengthen local techniques through collaboration. In short, it is a grassroots educational system. They met frequently in London, often at Gresham College; some of the members also had meetings at Oxford, and in that city Boyle went to reside in 1654. Reading in 1657 of Otto von Guericke's air-pump, he set himself with the assistance of Robert Hooke to devise improvements in its construction, and with the result, the "machina Boyleana" or "Pneumatical Engine," finished in 1659, he began a series of experiments on the properties of air. An account of the work he did with this instrument was published in 1660 under the title New Experiments Physico-Mechanical. Among the critics of the views put forward in this book was a Jesuit, Franciscus Linus (1595-1675), and it was while answering his objections that Boyle enunciated the law that the volume of a gas varies inversely as the pressure, which among English-speaking peoples is usually called after his name, though on the continent of Europe it is attributed to Edme Mariotte, who did not publish it till 1676. In 1663 the Invisible College became the Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, and the charter of incorporation granted by Charles II of England, named Boyle a member of the council. In 1680 he was elected president of the society, but declined the honor from a scruple about oaths. It was during his time at Oxford that Boyle was a Chevalier. The Chevaliers are thought to have been established by royal order a few years before Boyle's time at Oxford. The period of Boyle's residence was marked by the reactionary actions of the victorious parliamentarian forces, consequently this period marked the most secretive period of Chevalier movements and thus little is known about Boyle's involvement beyond his membership. In 1668 he left Oxford for London where he resided at the house of his sister, Lady Ranelagh, in Pall Mall. About 1689 his health, never very strong, began to fail seriously and he gradually withdrew from his public engagements, ceasing his Communications to the Royal Society, and advertising his desire to be excused from receiving guests, "unless upon occasions very extraordinary," on Tuesday and Friday forenoon, and Wednesday and Saturday afternoon. In the leisure thus gained he wished to "recruit his spirits, range his papers," and prepare some important chemical investigations which he proposed to leave "as a kind of Hermetic legacy to the studious disciples of that art," but of which he did not make known the nature. His health became still worse in 1691, and his death occurred on December 30 of that year, just a week after that of the sister with whom he had lived for more than twenty years. He was buried in the churchyard of St Martin's in the Fields, his funeral sermon being preached by his friend Bishop Burnet. In his will, Boyle endowed a series of Lectures which came to be known as the Boyle Lectures. Boyle's great merit as a scientific investigator is that he carried out the principles which Francis Bacon preached in the Novum Organum. The Novum Organum is a philosophical work by Francis Bacon published in 1620. The title translates as "new organ" or "instrument". This is a reference to Aristotle's work Organon which was his treatise on logic and syllogism. In Novum Organum, Bacon details a new system of logic he believes to be superior to the old ways of syllogism. For Bacon, finding the essence of a thing was a simple process of reduction. One must list all the things which cause the object in question, and then dismiss each one as the primary cause until only one was left. This work was critical in the historical development of the scientific method. Yet he would not avow himself a follower of Bacon, or indeed of any other teacher. On several occasions he mentions that in order to keep his judgment as unprepossessed as might be with any of the modern theories of philosophy, till he was "provided of experiments" to help him judge of them, he refrained from any study of the Atomical and the Cartesian systems, and even of the Novum Organum itself, though he admits to "transiently consulting" them about a few particulars. Nothing was more alien to his mental temperament than the spinning of hypotheses. He regarded the acquisition of knowledge as an end in itself, and in consequence he gained a wider outlook on the aims of scientific inquiry than had been enjoyed by his predecessors for many centuries. This, however, did not mean that he paid no attention to the practical application of science nor that he despised knowledge which tended to use. He himself was an alchemist; and believing the transmutation of metals to be a possibility, he carried out experiments in the hope of effecting it; and he was instrumental in obtaining the repeal, in 1689, of the statute of Henry IV against multiplying gold and silver. With all the important work he accomplished in physics - the enunciation of Boyle's law, the discovery of the part taken by air in the propagation of sound, and investigations on the expansive force of freezing water, on specific gravities and refractive powers, on crystals, on electricity, on color, on hydrostatics, etc.- chemistry was his peculiar and favourite study. His first book on the subject was The Sceptical Chemist, published in 1661, in which he criticized the "experiments whereby vulgar Spagyrists are wont to endeavour to evince their Salt, Sulphur and Mercury (element) to be the true Principles of Things." For him chemistry was the science of the composition of substances, not merely an adjunct to the arts of the alchemist or the physician. He advanced towards the modern view of elements as the undecomposable constituents of material bodies; and Understanding the distinction between mixtures and compounds, he made considerable progress in the technique of detecting their ingredients, a process which he designated by the term "analysis." He further supposed that the elements were ultimately composed of particles of various sorts and sizes, into which, however, they were not to be resolved in any known way. Applied chemistry had to thank him for improved methods and for an extended knowledge of individual substances. He also studied the chemistry of combustion and of respiration, and conducted experiments in physiology, where, however, he was hampered by the "tenderness of his nature" which kept him from anatomical dissections, especially of living animals, though he knew them to be "most instructing." Besides being a busy natural philosopher, Boyle devoted much time to theology, showing a very decided leaning to the practical side and an indifference to controversial polemics. At the Restoration he was favourably received at court, and in 1665 would have received the provostship of Eton, if he would have taken orders; but this he refused to do on the ground that his writings on religious subjects would have greater weight coming from a layman than a paid minister of the Church. As a director of the East India Company he spent large sums in promoting the spread of Christianity in the East, contributing liberally to missionary societies, and to the expenses of translating the Bible or portions of it into various languages. He founded the Boyle lectures, intended to defend the Christian religion against those he considered "notorious infidels, namely atheists, theists, pagans, Jews and Muslims," with the proviso that controversies between Christians were not to be mentioned. In person Boyle was tall, slender and of a pale countenance. His constitution was far from robust, and throughout his life he suffered from feeble health and low spirits. While his scientific work procured him an extraordinary reputation among his contemporaries, his private character and virtues, the charm of his social manners, his wit and powers of conversation, endeared him to a large circle of personal friends. He was never married. His writings are exceedingly voluminous, and his style is clear and straightforward, though undeniably prolix. In 2004 The Robert Boyle Science Room was opened in the Lismore Heritage Centre, near his birthplace, dedicated to his life and works where students have the opportunity of studying science and participating in scientific experiments.

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Sodium Thiosulfate

Sodium Thiosulfate Cover
Sodium thiosulfate, also spelled sodium thiosulphate, is a colorless crystalline compound that is more familiar as the pentahydrate, Na2S2O3o5H2O, an efflorescent, monoclinic crystalline substance also called sodium hyposulfite or "hypo. " The thiosulfate anion is tetrahedral in shape and is notionally derived by replacing one of the oxygen atoms by a sulfur atom in a sulfate anion. The S-S distance indicates a single bond, implying that the sulfur bears significant negative charge and the S-O interactions have more double bond character. The first protonation of thiosulfate occurs at sulfur.

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