In the Beginning: Sources of Alchemy and Chemistry

The Spring Meeting of the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry (SHAC):
Saturday 16 March 2013, 13.00 to 17.30

Richard Eden Room, Gillian Beer House, Clare Hall (West Court site), Herschel Road, Cambridge

The early sources of alchemy, chemistry and chemical technology - influential antique and early medieval works, composed in Greek, Syriac, Arabic, and Hebrew - remain relatively little known, and present unique challenges to scholarship. This meeting showcases the most up-to-date work on these intriguing sources: both shedding new light on early ideas, practices and authorities, and evaluating their impact on the development of western alchemy, chemistry and chemical medicine.

The meeting celebrates the completion of the first volume of a new series, *Sources of Alchemy and Chemistry*. The series will provide monograph-length critical editions and English translations of influential works of early alchemy and chemistry, to be included in subscriptions to the Society's journal, Ambix.

Programme:

Lawrence M. Principe (Johns Hopkins University): "Early Sources of Alchemy and Chemistry"
Matteo Martelli (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin): "Zosimus and the First Book of Alchemy"
Gabriele Ferrario (Cambridge University Library): "Judaeo-Arabic Alchemy in the Cairo Genizah"
Sébastien Moureau (Université catholique de Louvain): "Elixir and Ferment, Alchemy and Medicine: The Link Between Pseudo-Avicenna's De anima, Roger Bacon, and Pseudo-Aristotle's Secretum secretorum"
Jennifer Rampling (University of Cambridge): "Plotting the Future of Medieval Alchemy"

Roundtable discussion

Full programme here: http://www.ambix.org/sources/

Registration is £10 (£6 for students and SHAC members). Online registration here: http://www.ambix.org/registration-form/

Colloquium organized by SHAC, with support from the British Society for the History of Science and the Charles Singleton Center for the Study of Pre-Modern Europe.

Please contact Jennifer Rampling with any queries: jmr82@cam.ac.uk