The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry, credited to M. M. Pattison Muir, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

Librivox recording of The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry by M. M. Pattison Muir. Read by Peter Yearsley A light journey through the history of chemistry, from its start in the obscure mysteries of alchemy to what was, for the author, the cutting edge of the development of modern atomic theory ... and whose developing blind ends we can now see with the advantage of hind sight. (Summary by Peter Yearsley) For more free audiobooks, or to become a volunteer reader, please visit librivox.org.

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry
• Author credits: M. M. Pattison Muir
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 14
• Listed recording duration: 5:11:17

Catalogue topics

• alchemy
• chemistry
• history
• science

Track guide

1. 01 - The explanation of material changes given by Greek Thinkers — 27:40
2. 02 - A sketch of alchemical theory — 22:18
3. 03 - The alchemical notion of the unity and simplicity of nature — 13:47
4. 04 - The alchemical elements and principles — 21:09
5. 05 - The alchemical essence — 30:49
6. 06 - Alchemy as an experimental art — 17:27
7. 07 - The Language of alchemy — 15:43
8. 08 - The Degeneracy of Alchemy — 15:40
9. 09 - Paracelsus and some other alchemists — 11:50
10. 10 - Summary of the alchemical doctrine -- the replacement of the Three Principles of the alchemists by the single principle of Phlogiston — 30:03
11. 11 - The examination of the phenomena of combustion — 25:29
12. 12 - The recognition of chemical changes as the interactions of definite substances — 13:05
13. 13 - The chemical elements contrasted with the alchemical principles — 25:01
14. 14 - The modern form of the alchemical quest of the One Thing — 41:20

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.