Abstract
THE practical operations of the alchemists and their main theoretical beliefs are familiar, in outline at least, to every student of chemistry. The chemical historian may be as familiar with alchemical technique and ideas as the average chemist is with the modern technique of his science. Few, however, have any clear picture of the alchemist as a human being, an individual with a private as well as a professional life. This picture has been skilfully and entertainingly drawn by Prof. John Read in the book under notice, and there are not many, either men of science or laymen, who will not derive both pleasure and profit from reading this scholarly little work.
The Alchemist in Life, Literature and Art
By Prof. John Read. Pp. xii+100+30 plates. (London and Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson and Sons, Ltd., 1947.) 10s. 6d. net.
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W., T. The Alchemist in Life, Literature and Art. Nature 161, 787–788 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/161787b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/161787b0
