false 799865 1 <p> Alchemy can't be science--common sense tells us as much. But perhaps common sense is not the best measure of what science is, or was. In this book, Bruce Moran looks past contemporary assumptions and prejudices to determine what alchemists were actually doing in the context of early modern science. Examining the ways alchemy and chemistry were studied and practiced between 1400 and 1700, he shows how these approaches influenced their respective practitioners' ideas about nature and shaped their inquiries into the workings of the natural world. His work sets up a dialogue between what historians have usually presented as separate spheres; here we see how alchemists and early chemists exchanged ideas and methods and in fact shared a territory between their two disciplines. </p><p> <i>Distilling Knowledge</i> suggests that scientific revolution may wear a different appearance in different cultural contexts. The metaphor of the Scientific Revolution, Moran argues, can be expanded to make sense of alchemy and other so-called pseudo-sciences--by including a new framework in which "process can count as an object, in which making leads to learning, and in which the messiness of conflict leads to discernment." Seen on its own terms, alchemy can stand within the bounds of demonstrative science. </p> 785830 1 9 2006 Distilling Knowledge: Alchemy, Chemistry, and the Scientific Revolution (New Histories of Science, Technology, and Medicine) total:8|5:4|4:2|3:1|2:1|1:0| 8 33 13 0 0 0 false false Fri Oct 23 08:06:00 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 08:06:00 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Oct 22 05:22:33 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 22 05:22:33 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Aug 26 10:06:07 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 10:06:07 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Fri Jul 03 05:44:11 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 26 11:05:56 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 05:44:11 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri May 22 03:59:50 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 03:59:50 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu May 07 21:20:07 -0700 2009 Thu May 07 21:20:14 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Apr 15 11:00:19 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 15 11:00:19 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Apr 04 22:09:17 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 04 22:09:17 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Mar 28 04:19:03 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 28 04:19:03 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Mar 10 11:16:12 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 10 11:16:12 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Mar 27 13:51:13 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 27 13:51:13 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Mon Feb 11 20:29:39 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 11 20:29:39 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Fri Nov 30 10:56:24 -0800 2007 Fri Nov 30 10:56:24 -0800 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=799865