The Last Alchemist, Part Two

In the second part of 'The Last Alchemist,' host Mark Kreisler traces the transmission of alchemy from ancient Alexandria through the Arab world to medieval Europe, highlighting the pivotal role of Robert of Chester’s 1144 Latin translation of an Arabic alchemical text. This translation ignited a European alchemical tradition steeped in secrecy, pseudonyms, and the pursuit of the Philosopher’s Stone. Kreisler explores how European alchemists, despite being influenced by Aristotle’s empiricism, became entangled in a labyrinth of coded texts, frauds, and failed experiments. He examines the rise of legendary figures like Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon, whose real scientific contributions were overshadowed by myths of magical inventions and demonic pacts. The episode dissects the infamous case of Marco Bragadino, a con artist who duped Venice and the Duke of Bavaria before being executed. Kreisler then turns to James Price, the 'Last Alchemist,' whose 1782 demonstrations of gold and silver production caused a sensation—only to collapse when he failed to reproduce results before the Royal Society. Price’s mysterious death from prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide) during a final demonstration marks a poetic end to alchemy’s long quest. The episode concludes with the realization that alchemy, though discredited, laid the foundation for modern chemistry, with figures like Paracelsus, Boyle, and Newton contributing significantly despite their alchemical pursuits. The episode underscores that alchemy was not merely superstition but a rigorous, experimental precursor to chemistry. Its downfall stemmed not from inherent nonsense, but from its entanglement with fraud, secrecy, and state fears of economic destabilization. The legal bans on alchemical gold production, from Pope John XXII’s 1317 decretal to England’s 1404 Law Against Multipliers, reflect deep-seated anxieties about unregulated wealth. Yet, the real legacy lies in the scientific methods and discoveries—alcohol, arsenic, sulfuric acid, porcelain—that emerged from alchemical practice. Kreisler argues that alchemy’s end was not a failure of science, but a necessary split: chemists shed alchemy’s mysticism to become a legitimate discipline. The story of James Price, who may have knowingly or unknowingly poisoned himself while attempting to replicate a real chemical breakthrough, symbolizes this transition—where the last alchemist died not in failure, but in the moment of scientific revelation, just before the truth was fully understood.