For centuries, alchemists tried to unlock the ability to turn lead into gold. They believed the right mystical process or chemical concoction could transform one base metal into a precious one. While ...

Ever since the discovery of alchemy, or since humans thought gold was a precious object, a worldwide quest to turn common elements into the yellow metal has been ongoing. Folklore and fables sing ...

Part of the appeal of the Boyle myth may be that it promised a clean break: a waymark at which alchemy was cast aside and chemistry took over. But such changes rarely if ever happen in science, and ...

A cartoon drawing shows a robed, bearded man with a pet weasel on his shoulder as he examines a piece of paper while sitting at a table containing a book, a flask, and a chunk of gold. Affirmation for ...