Abstract:
Chemistry' itself is of Arabic origin. In fact it is a place name in Egypt. This town of Chimiya was once renowned for its chemical industries. Arab chemists had remarked that substances do not react except by definite proportions. Today, this is one of the fundamental laws of chemistry, known as the law of definite proportions. Alchemy, like astrology by its uncanny past has a exotic appeal to the human mind. Jabir Ibn Hayan remarked that preparation of gold was not the exclusive role of chemistry. The chief object of chemistry should be the preparation of new chemical substances. Laboratory gold was produced in 1936, at the University of California in Berkeley. It was subsequently reported, that the nuclear physicists at Columbia University in N.Y. using a different device produced more stable gold. Platinum, element number 78 is nonradioactive; when it was exposed to radium,- element number 88 which is radioactive, it was brought to light that its fissioning nuclear particles had converted platinum to element number 79, which is gold (Aurum). And this particular isotope of gold has proved useful in the treatment of cancer, arthritis and other diseases. Thus after age-old meandering over different climes alchemical striving succeeded in transmuting baser materials to gold. The philospher's stone turned out to be human understanding of the mysterious working of Allah's laws. Man by his knowledge of the human anatomy and physiology and advancement of medicine and surgery has conquered disease and prolonged life- the elixir of youthfulness, the other quest of the alchemist. Jabir Ibn Hayyan had a laboratory at Kufa. Dr. John Holmyard in his Masters of Chemistry, recorded that Jabir's Laboratory at Kufa was rediscovered about two centuries after his death during the demolition of some houses in the quarter of the town known as Damascus Gate. In it was found a golden mortar weighing two-and-a-half pounds.
Page(s):
69-77
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: Hamdard Medicus, Volume: 33, Issue: 4, Year: 1990