Hennig Brand, German Alchemist
by Wellcome Images
Title
Hennig Brand, German Alchemist
Artist
Wellcome Images
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Hennig Brand (1630 -1692/1710) was a German merchant and alchemist. Brand searched for the "philosopher's stone", a substance which supposedly transformed base metals into gold. By the time his first wife died he had exhausted her money on this pursuit. He then married his second wife Margaretha, a wealthy widow whose financial resources allowed him to continue the search. Around 1669 he heated residues from boiled-down urine on his furnace until the retort was red hot, glowing fumes filled it and liquid dripped out, bursting into flames. He captured the liquid in a jar and covered it, where it solidified and continued to give off a pale-green glow. What he collected was phosphorus, which he named from the Greek word for "light-bearing" or "light-bearer." Phosphorus must have been awe-inspiring to an alchemist it was a product of man, and seeming to glow with a "life force" that did not diminish over time. He kept his discovery secret and worked with the phosphorus trying unsuccessfully to produce gold.
Uploaded
April 18th, 2016
Embed
Share
Comments
There are no comments for Hennig Brand, German Alchemist. Click here to post the first comment.