Alchemy was chiefly an effort to change base metals like lead into gold
and to produce an elixir that would enable people to live forever. It failed
to do that or to create much knowledge of how substances react with each
other. The more scientific study of chemistry that began in Lavoisier's
time has gone far beyond alchemy in understanding reactions and producing
new materials.
| See Content Standard G History and
Nature of Science (grades 9-12): Historical Perspectives.
|