The most important early alchemists were women like Mary the Jewess.
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Mary the Jewess & the Alchemists
Science books describe alchemy as an early form of chemistry. Typically, a male alchemist is shown in a medieval lab, trying to create gold from base materials. In fact, alchemy was not a science, but something closer to a religion, and its earliest and most famous practitioners were women! One of the most important women alchemists was Mary the Jewess. She lived in the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria around AD 100. During this time, Gnostic religion (a sect of Christianity) influenced alchemy along with neo-platonism and Egyptian cosmology. In Gnostic religion, male and female qualities are considered equal in importance. As a result, women were attracted to this sect of early Christianity and from there, into alchemy.
Alchemy as a goddess (17th c).
Mary invented or improved all the basic equipment used in alchemical rituals. For example, she perfected the 3-armed distillation chamber or still. In her writings, she describes how to use pastry flour to seal joints on the still. She also recommends that the metal used be the thickness of a frying-pan. Apparently, these early alchemists spent more time in the kitchen than in the lab. Because of its connection with cooking, alchemy was known as "women's work." The writings of other women alchemists such as "Cleopatra," "Isis," Theosebeia, and Paphnoutia suggest a community of women was working in alchemy at this time. Mary's book called the Maria Practica was circulated and read in various forms for 1600 years!
During the dark ages, alchemists were the ONLY people doing chemical experiments of any kind. Much later, in the 1650's, alchemists like Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle launched what we call "Western science." Western science or modern science follows a scientific method which requires repeatable experiments to prove theories. When Newton published his great book, The Principia, explaining the force of gravity among other things, he boldly stated, "I make no hypotheses." Meaning he would not rely on metaphysics or science philosophy to justify his theory of gravity, only observables or experimental results. This was an important turning point in science history. Afterwards, researchers lost interest in science philosophy and concentrated on experimental proof. Eventually, the title "natural philosopher" gave way to the modern term "scientist."
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