As a SAHC member you may be interested in the following symposium organised by La Société Française d’Histoire de la Chimie (SFHC) www.sfhc.fr/ and partner institutions

Symposium “Heritage of Chemistry / Patrimoine de la Chimie” – To be held in Rennes (France) on 23-24 November 2023. Theme: The Laboratory: its buildings, its instruments, and its chemists

In this symposium, we want to direct attention to chemical laboratories, with special reference to the following aspects:

               – buildings specially designed for the training of chemists;

               – laboratories for both teaching and research;

               – the facilities that allowed laboratories to carry out their research;

               – the instruments they used, including those that have since become common but were innovative in their time; also instruments specific to a given research activity;

               – publications used in laboratories, such as textbooks, guides, dictionaries, directories, or wall charts;

               – and, of course, the chemists who were behind the creation of the laboratories, including their archives and laboratory notebooks.

Call for papers

If you are interested in the theme of the symposium, please send an abstract of your contribution in English or in French (2500 characters, spaces included, or 350 words maximum) before July 10, 2023 to: PatrimoineChimie.2023@gmail.com

In response, the symposium’s organizing committee will propose either an oral presentation or the possibility of participation in a poster session.

Circulated on behalf of the members of the organizing Committee:

Danielle FAUQUE (SFHC); Julie PRISER (ASEISTE); Jacques ROLLAND (Rennes en Sciences)

NB. French is the main language of the symposium. Power point presentations and posters must be in French, although talks may be delivered in English.

Sources of Alchemy and Chemistry

Matteo Martelli’s The Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus, previously only available in hard copy, is now available digitally:  https://doi.org/10.1080/00026980.2013.12288743

The four alchemical books ascribed to the Greek atomist Democritus rank among the most ancient examples of Western alchemical writing. They cover a range of technical questions and recipes, similar to those handled in the earliest surviving chemical manuscripts. The Books also played a central role in the development of alchemy as a discipline. Members can access The Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus, by logging in to the member area to access Ambix, where it is listed as a supplement to vol. 60, 2013.

Best regards

Carolyn Cobbold Members Secretary SHAC

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