Alchemy Tried in the Fire
Starkey, Boyle, and the Fate of Helmontian Chymistry
- Contents
Table of Contents

Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter 1 - Worlds Apart
Boyle’s Portrayal of His Relationship to Chymistry
Conclusions
Chapter 2 - Number, Weight, Measure, and Experiment in Chymistry: From the Medievals to Van Helmont
Testing, Analysis, and Assaying in Late Medieval Alchemy
Alexander von Suchten and the Sixteenth-Century Synthesis of Chymical Traditions
Joan Baptista Van Helmont: Art, Nature, and Experiment
Conclusions
Chapter 3 - Theory and Practice: Starkey’s Laboratory Methodology
The Use and Format of Starkey’s Notebooks
Starkey’s Laboratory
Starkey’s Experimental Methodology: Conjectural Processes and Fiery Refutations
Quantitative Methods and Analyses in Transmutational Alchemy
The Volatilization of Alkalies and Starkey’s Grand Design for Medicine
Conclusions
Chapter 4 - Scholasticism, Metallurgy, and Secrecy in the Laboratory: The Style and Origin of Starkey’s Notebooks
Sources of Starkey’s Industrial Chymistry
The Structure of Starkey’s Laboratory Notebooks
Starkey and Textual Authority
The Place of Divine Authority in the Laboratory
Conclusions
Chapter 5 - Starkey, Boyle, and Chymistry in the Hartlib Circle
George Starkey and the Development of Boyle’s Early Chymistry
The Role of Benjamin Worsley in Boyle’s “Chymical Education”
Hartlib’s “Chymical Son” Frederick Clodius and Boyle
Conclusions
Chapter 6 - The Legacy of Van Helmont’s and Starkey’s Chymistry: Boyle, Homberg, and the Chemical Revolution
The Chymistry of Salts in Boyle and Van Helmont
A Helmontian Background to the Chemical Revolution
Conclusions
Conclusion
Works Cited
Index
Acknowledgments
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter 1 - Worlds Apart
Boyle’s Portrayal of His Relationship to Chymistry
Conclusions
Chapter 2 - Number, Weight, Measure, and Experiment in Chymistry: From the Medievals to Van Helmont
Testing, Analysis, and Assaying in Late Medieval Alchemy
Alexander von Suchten and the Sixteenth-Century Synthesis of Chymical Traditions
Joan Baptista Van Helmont: Art, Nature, and Experiment
Conclusions
Chapter 3 - Theory and Practice: Starkey’s Laboratory Methodology
The Use and Format of Starkey’s Notebooks
Starkey’s Laboratory
Starkey’s Experimental Methodology: Conjectural Processes and Fiery Refutations
Quantitative Methods and Analyses in Transmutational Alchemy
The Volatilization of Alkalies and Starkey’s Grand Design for Medicine
Conclusions
Chapter 4 - Scholasticism, Metallurgy, and Secrecy in the Laboratory: The Style and Origin of Starkey’s Notebooks
Sources of Starkey’s Industrial Chymistry
The Structure of Starkey’s Laboratory Notebooks
Starkey and Textual Authority
The Place of Divine Authority in the Laboratory
Conclusions
Chapter 5 - Starkey, Boyle, and Chymistry in the Hartlib Circle
George Starkey and the Development of Boyle’s Early Chymistry
The Role of Benjamin Worsley in Boyle’s “Chymical Education”
Hartlib’s “Chymical Son” Frederick Clodius and Boyle
Conclusions
Chapter 6 - The Legacy of Van Helmont’s and Starkey’s Chymistry: Boyle, Homberg, and the Chemical Revolution
The Chymistry of Salts in Boyle and Van Helmont
A Helmontian Background to the Chemical Revolution
Conclusions
Conclusion
Works Cited
Index
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