The Many Goals of Alchemy

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The Many Goals of Alchemy

Alchemy is not just the changing of base metals into gold as most people think, although that was one of the goals people tried to achieve through alchemy. Alchemy is stemmed from astrology; both make attempts to understand mans relationship to the universe and exploit it. While astrology is concerned with the stars alchemy is concerned with the elements of nature. Alchemy also stemmed partly from metallurgy, a science that deals with the extracting of metals form ore and the combining of metals to make alloys. Today’s modern chemistry evolved from alchemy using the extended knowledge of substances and how they react with each other.

There were several goals that alchemist tried to achieve but the driving cause behind it was to understand mans relation to the universe. Alchemists of many religions believed that they could understand the will of their god or gods through understanding the world in which they lived. However many alchemists strive for more selfish goals.

The most well known goal is the changing of metals to gold. Alchemists called this ...

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