The Ancient Sciences

The Ancient Sciences Of Chemistry and Alchemy.

Chemistry is the study of the elements and the compounds they form, their physical and chemical properties, and the specific conditions under which they react to other elements and compounds. Chemistry provides the foundation of understanding in the other physical sciences of Physics, Astronomy and Biology. The theoretical and practical applications of Chemistry effect every aspect of civilisation, from agriculture and the arts to medicine and the eternal truths expressed in the laws of nature.

The Ancient Practitioners of Science, particularly in Egypt and India, achieved a remarkable high point in the practical application of science, which have in some cases surpassed our modern scientific knowledge and theory. The words "chemistry" and "alchemy" are thought to be derived from the root word "Khem", itself an ancient name for Egypt.

The great civilisation of ancient Egypt holds a wealth of chemical knowledge from its knowledge of chemical compounds used in the binding of stones and metals, the process of embalming and mummification, to their practical knowledge of pharmacology and anesthesia. When it came to applying chemistry to the Arts, the paints and dyes of the ancient Egyptians are unsurpassed in brilliance and endurance.

Egypt was not alone, in its wealth of knowledge of Science, the great civilisation of ancient India also provides profound evidence of the knowledge of Chemistry. Brajendranath Seal states in his book, Positive Sciences Of The Ancient Hindus (Shri Jainendra Press, 1985, pp. 64-65), that for more than a thousand years India dominated the markets of the East through three breakthroughs in the practical application of Chemistry to industry: the preparation of color-fast dyes, the extraction of blue pigment from the indigo plant, and the chemical hardening of steel.

Matter is made up of atoms, each atom having protons, neutrons and electrons, being further divided into quarks and leptons, and the arrangements of these sub-atomic particles in orbitals or paths provide us with the Periodic Table of atomic weights and numbers. At the sub-atomic level all forms of matter, whether organic or inorganic, are composed of the same minute particles of energy.

[Image: The alchemist - Sir William Fettes Douglas (1822 - 1891)]