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Alchemy
Alchemy, ancient art practiced especially in the Middle Ages, devoted chiefly
to discovering a substance that would transmute the more common metals into
gold or silver and to finding a means of indefinitely prolonging human life.
Although its purposes and techniques were dubious and often illusory, alchemy
was in many ways the predecessor of modern science, especially the science of
chemistry.
The birthplace of alchemy was ancient Egypt, where, in Alexandria, it began to
flourish in the Hellenistic period; simultaneously, a school of alchemy was
developing in China. The writings of some of the early Greek philosophers might
be considered to contain the first chemical theories; and the theory advanced
in the
Approximate words: 859
Approximate pages: 4
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