In a general sense, alchemy is perceived as the transformation of a common substance to something rare and valuable. Medieval alchemists are often portrayed as little more than quacks attempting to make gold from lead. This depiction is not entirely...

Alchemy is a precursor of modern chemistry. It represented the first systematic attempts of people to try to understand the workings of the universe without recourse to religion. There were two main driving forces behind the "science" of...

The vocable alchemia (or some alternate form such as ars chemica) appears in the West from the twelfth century onward in reference to the medieval quest for a means of transmuting base metals into gold, for a universal cure, and for the "elixir...

Alchemists employed both physical procedures and magic to convert base metals, such as lead, into gold, and to create elixirs of eternal life. While alchemy is commonly defined as a field of knowledge developed in Europe from the Middle Ages until the...

In the history of science, alchemy refers to both an early form of the investigation of nature and an early philosophical and spiritual discipline, both combining elements of chemistry, metallurgy, physics, medicine, astrology, semiotics, mysticism,...

Denise Wohl, mother of headband-wearing alterna-socialite Arden, has started a new comic book company, Intrinsic Comics, hiring James Shooter, the former editor in chief of Marvel Comics, where she used to work as a letterer, to help realize her vision.At an Accompanied Literary Society...

After struggling for weeks aboard his storm-damaged yacht, American sailor William P. Archer III watched his sailboat sink into the ocean — just as he was rescued by a passing tanker in rough seas off the Bahamas.Archer, who had been attempting a solo Atlantic crossing,...

Scientists in Italy believe they have uncovered a murder _ 400 years after it is thought to have taken place. Historians have long suspected that Francesco de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and his second wife, Bianca Cappello, did not die of malaria but were...

Can Bertie Ahern take the money and just keep running?Ireland's popular prime minister, credited with economic good times at home and peace in neighboring Northern Ireland, has admitted to a judicial probe he collected secret cash from dozens of businessmen _ and offered explanations that...