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To those uneducated in chemical processes, Glazier’s work with metals looked more like magic than science.
crime

How the Alchemist of New England Became a Legendary Counterfeiter

Glazier Wheeler turned his skill for manipulating silver into profitable schemes.
Ryan Shea August 6, 2024
Maria points to a mysterious symbolic representation of an early chemistry experiment.
ancient

The Ancient Female Alchemist Whose Name Is in Your Kitchen

Who put the Marie in "bain-Marie"?
Andrew Coletti April 8, 2024
Faustův Dům
Prague, Czechia

Faustův Dům (Faust House)

A Baroque mansion with ties to legendary magicians and alchemists.
This 1618 engraving by Matthaeus Merian the Elder depicts the alchemical universe with the Philosopher's Stone at its center.
science

How Scholars Cracked a Medieval Alchemist’s Secret Code

Written in a puzzling Latin cipher, it contains his formula for eternal life.
Sarah Durn November 11, 2021
castles

Podcast: The Real Alchemist of Castle Frankenstein

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team October 25, 2021
List

9 Places to Experience the Wonder of Alchemy

For when you want to transform lead into gold or stir up the Philosopher’s Stone in your crucible.
Sarah Durn August 31, 2021
Displays at the Weaver Dental Museum include a jumble of dentures.
Itinerary

6 Fascinating Medical Marvels in Pennsylvania

50 States of Wonder
Sam O'Brien
The external façade of the Barnekow House
Anagni, Italy

Barnekow House

A medieval house with mysterious alchemical inscriptions on its facade
A bartender serves pear ratafia, inspired by an early-modern European recipe, at Tattersall's 2019 event.
plague

The 1700s Plague Cure That Inspired an Uncannily Contemporary Cocktail

An art historian, a culinary researcher, and a Twin Cities distillery teamed up to recreate the herbaceous drink.
Reina Gattuso April 3, 2020
The portal in Rivodutri.
Rivodutri, Italy

Alchemical Door of Rivodutri

A 17th-century doorway in a small Sabine village is a portal into the mysteries of alchemy.
An illuminated atlas depicts Mansa Musa, emperor of Mali from 1312 to 1337, widely known for his vast vast wealth in the form of gold deposits.
science

Medieval Africans Had a Unique Process for Purifying Gold With Glass

And scientists in Illinois have recreated it.
Evan Nicole Brown May 9, 2019
Magic Sphere of Helios.
Athens, Greece

Magic Sphere of Helios

This mystical orb covered in strange symbols is thought to have been used in ancient Greek magical rituals.
Isaac Newton.
science

Sold: Isaac Newton's Notes on the Philosopher's Stone

The famous physicist's interest in alchemy was hidden until the 1930s.
Sarah Laskow March 13, 2018
science

Thank These Master Alchemists for the Magic of Alcohol

Two Muslim scholars invented stills that could make spirits.
Anne Ewbank February 12, 2018
Ouray, Colorado

Ouray Alchemist

A recreation of an Old West apothecary full of curios.
In the pharmacy cellar.
Lviv, Ukraine

Under the Black Eagle Pharmacy Museum

Ukraine's oldest operating pharmacy now offers guests a fascinating walk through apothecary history.
Plucking mandrake at a distance with the aid of string.
witchcraft

Mesmerizing Depictions of Magic and Witchcraft Throughout History

How the occult has been depicted in art, from mandrakes to palmistry.
Anika Burgess January 5, 2017
<em>The Perfection of the Work</em>, a hand-colored engraving with gilding in Johann Michael Faust's <em>Compendium alchymist[ae] novum sive Pandora</em>, 1706.
secret

How Alchemy Has Been Depicted in Art Through the Ages

Secret symbols aplenty.
Anika Burgess November 18, 2016