Alchemical Matters Essays on the Precursor to Modern Chemistry

Ever wonder what the alchemists were talking about? Alchemical Matters: Essays on the Precursor to Modern Chemistry provides in-depth background information, useful hints, and tips. The collection of essays delves into the possible chemistry of the alchemist's recipes for the transmutation of metals and the concocting of elixirs, the apparatus employed, and the theories used to explain their observations. Alchemical Matters, then, is a useful source of general information for the beginning student of alchemy but is, as well, a valuable interpretative tool for those pursuing a more in-depth study of the enigmatic precursor to modern chemistry. Author Keith Schuette is a 1977 graduate of the University of Missouri-Rolla (currently the Missouri University of Science and Technology), where he earned a BS degree in Metallurgical Engineering. He also holds a Master of Divinity degree from Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis. Now retired, his career involved employment as a metallurgist, a quality manager, and a part-time instructor. A father of a daughter and a son, and a grandfather of six, he currently resides with his wife, Linda, in West Bend, Wisconsin.