Distillations magazine

The magnetic connection between sailors, adultery, and garlic.

Discover alchemy, the secret science!

In the 17th century, experimentalists were only beginning to understand the connections among blood, respiration, and air.

Jābir ibn Hayyan, whose name is inextricably bound to the foundations of alchemy, is a man of mystery.

Boyle’s Sceptical Chymist (London, 1661) is an acknowledged landmark of science. But the book’s reputation is based less on what it is than on what it is perceived to be.

Even toward the end of his life, Isaac Newton still had questions about chemistry.

You can’t tell a book by its cover.

Although many were skilled in making medicinal home remedies, only a few women ran their own apothecaries, competing with males for the right to prescribe medicines.

Two books trace the history of Arabo-Islamic science during the European Middle Ages.

Historians have uncovered evidence of the immense influence of Arabic alchemy—a largely unexplored piece of the alchemical puzzle.