The Alchemy of Mineral Acids
Overview
Geber was the pseudonym of a fourteenth-century alchemist whose books were highly influential during the Middle Ages. He is credited with the discovery of sulfuric acid, whose preparation he described along with that of other strong acids. These acids were capable of dissolving many metals—a property that helped to spur interest in alchemy throughout Europe. Today, these compounds are among the most important industrial chemicals.
Background
Little is known of the alchemist Geber, although he is believed to have been Spanish and to have published his work during the early part of the 1300s. Geber was not his real name (he is often known as the False Geber or Psuedo-Geber), but one he took from Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. 721-815), an influential Arabic alchemist. (Geber is the Latin form of the Arabic name Jabir.) Before the invention of movable type in the fifteenth century, books were produced largely by hand and in only small numbers. As a result, medieval alchemists such as Geber sometimes attributed their work to earlier, well-known scholars in order to increase the likelihood of their books being published.
Geber is known to have produced at least four books: The Sum of Perfection, The Book of Furnaces, The Investigation of Perfection, and The Invention of Verity.
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