Unexplainable – “Who are we to fight the alchemy?”
Release Date: March 16, 2026
Host: Britt (Byrd) Pinkerton | Guest: Lawrence Principe

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the enigmatic world of alchemy, challenging its reputation as pseudo-science and exploring how historians and chemists like Lawrence Principe have reevaluated alchemy as a serious precursor to modern chemistry. Through experimental recreation of ancient recipes, the show investigates what the alchemists were actually doing, why their texts are so cryptic, and how their work influenced the scientific revolution.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Rethinking Alchemy: From “Joke” to Serious Science

• Alchemy is commonly misunderstood as either quackery or metaphorical nonsense focused solely on turning lead into gold.
• Lawrence Principe, a professor at Johns Hopkins, is one of the leading figures in “rewriting” the historical narrative of alchemy.

“So before I read about Lawrence’s work, I thought alchemists were nothing more than either medieval quacks... who wrote fanciful books about turning lead into gold and achieving immortality. I thought they were a joke, essentially...”
— Britt Pinkerton [03:13]

2. What Is Alchemy Really?

• Alchemy has a millennia-long history and included the making of medicines, cosmetics, dyes, perfumes, alcohol, metal alloys, and more—not just gold.
• Much of what was once called “alchemy” overlaps with what we now call “chemistry”.

“They were interested as well in making medicines, for example, improved pharmaceuticals, but a whole range of sort of quotidian substances like cosmetics, perfumes, alcoholic drinks, metal alloys, all these sorts of things, dyes and pigments.”
— Lawrence Principe [04:49]

3. Deciphering Alchemical Texts

• Many alchemical texts are intentionally cryptic, full of riddles and metaphorical language (e.g., “fiery dragon,” “Saturn in the mirror of Mars”) to protect secrets and evade legal bans.
• This language has made it difficult for historians to recognize the practical or scientific value in these works.

“If you think you’re close to the way of making gold from cheap substances, you don’t really want everybody else to know about it... Alchemy was actually illegal... mostly because people were afraid... then the value of gold becomes zero.”
— Lawrence Principe [06:22], [06:34]

• The metaphorical style grew over time and became extravagant, making later texts especially hard to interpret as literal science.

4. Experimental Reconstruction: Proving the Recipes

• Principe, curious as both a chemist and a historian, began replicating old alchemical recipes to see if they produced real results.
• His early experiment focused on a 1604 text by “Basil Valentine” regarding the making of glass from antimony.

“I tried for months to make it, and it never worked.”
— Lawrence Principe [11:47]

• Success only came after considering the impurities (e.g., silica in the antimony), revealing the importance of context and materials.

“And you just need about 2% of silica, and wow, it becomes a beautiful transparent glass.”
— Lawrence Principe [13:11]

5. Taking on Alchemical “Miracles”: The Mercury Tree

• The show explores what happens when metaphor meets experiment, particularly with descriptions of making the philosopher’s stone.
• Principe focused on the writings of George Starkey (aka Irenaeus Philalethes) and tried to create “philosophical mercury.”

“He claimed that... when mixed with gold and heated in a flask, [mercury] would... vegetate. So this sounds extraordinarily unlikely.”
— Lawrence Principe [21:12]

• By carefully following (and slightly modernizing) instructions, he produced a dendritic, tree-like formation in a flask—a “mercury tree”—mirroring the surprising language of alchemical texts.

“There was a beautiful, glittering silver tree inside the flask...it filled the entire flask with a trunk and...dendritic growths.”
— Lawrence Principe [23:20]

6. How Metaphor and Experiment Intertwine

• Some metaphorical descriptions in alchemy may be based on real laboratory observations—not just allegory.
• Many alchemical texts begin with real, achievable experiments, then gradually move into more speculative and copied expectations.

“Experience transitions to expectation...I haven’t gotten them to work, but here's the way they should work.”
— Lawrence Principe [25:52]

7. Alchemy and the Scientific Revolution

• Notably, giants of science like Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton studied and practiced alchemy. Boyle, closely connected to Starkey, spent decades experimenting with alchemical ideas.
• The boundary between alchemy and chemistry was not as clean as modern perspectives suggest.

“People have...imagined there to be some great discontinuity in the development of chemistry...but that’s a gradual process that happens over time.”
— Lawrence Principe [28:31]

8. A New Era for Alchemy Studies

• Principe and his colleagues sparked a “revolution” in alchemy history, and today experimental reconstructions are more mainstream in historical research.
• Nonetheless, modern experimenters always interpret the past through contemporary lenses.

“When I'm looking at something...I am interpreting it through all sorts of lenses that have been created by the social, political, emotional, religious context of 2026. And my historical actors...have their own mental landscape constructed by 1354 or 1661.”
— Lawrence Principe [30:24]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It was a matter of the impurity that was in the original material.” [13:11] — The turning point for reproducing antimony glass.
• “What would that have done to a 17th-century alchemist who is convinced that a vegetative theory of the growth of metals is the right explanation? He would surely have said, wow, it really works. I’m going to work twice as hard to take this on to the next steps of making the philosopher’s stone...” [24:10]
• “People have...imagined there to be some great discontinuity in the development of chemistry...with what I like to refer to as ‘the arrogance of the present,’ thinking that old people were dumb.” [28:31]
• “Experience transitions to expectation...I haven’t gotten them to work, but here’s the way they should work.” [25:52]

Important Timestamps

• 01:20–02:30: Lawrence’s early fascination with alchemy and chemistry.
• 04:30–06:15: What counts as alchemy? The wide scope of alchemical pursuits.
• 08:00–09:48: Historians’ struggle and alternate theories for reading alchemy.
• 10:42–13:24: The experimental recreation of antimony glass—a real science in alchemical texts.
• 18:52–19:39: Shifting toward investigating the more “magical” claims.
• 21:12–23:48: The Mercury Tree experiment; metaphor meets laboratory surprise.
• 27:39–28:31: Boyle and Newton’s deep involvement in alchemy and its impact on science.
• 29:18–30:24: Alchemy’s scholarly renaissance and limitations of historical recreation.

Final Thoughts

This episode illustrates how the quest to understand alchemy sheds light on the fluid boundaries between science, pseudoscience, and metaphor through time. By experimenting with centuries-old recipes and reading texts with fresh eyes, Lawrence Principe reveals that alchemists may not have been charlatans, but curious experimenters exploring the rules of their world. The episode encourages a humbler and more nuanced view of the history of science—one that recognizes the complexity, creativity, and credibility of those who worked in the “alchemy” labs of the past.

Further Reading:

• Lawrence Principe’s book The Secrets of Alchemy
• Nature article on turning lead into gold via particle accelerator

For listener engagement and feedback, contact Unexplainable at unexplainable@vox.com.