Alchemy: The Origins of Capitalism, Mining, and the Modern State
Transforming Alchemy
“Alchemy is usually considered to be the medieval occult science par excellence. The marginal and lonely alchemist on the quest to transform and perfect nature surrounded with obscure volumes, noxious fumes, vessels of glass and ancient secrets dominates our imagination. But, with the social and economic changes that occurred in the centuries following the Black Death, the alchemists of Central Europe became increasing professionalized even contracted experts in the fields of medicine and mining. These "Entrepreneurial Alchemists" stood at the crossroads of the medieval world and modern capitalism, the state, industrial mining and heavy industry.”