Book, Jewish Alchemists, The[LS]

In this monumental work, the noted anthropologist Raphael Patai pulls back the curtain on an entirely new angle on the history of culture, permeated by the speculations that led it from the search for the philosopher's stone to modern science, by outlining the seminal presence of a Jewish alchemy from antiquity to the 19th century. This significant role, little known until the publication of this work, was achieved thanks to research of great depth and extent in sources never previously explored. In its light, the relevance of Jewish protagonists in the exploratory adventure, over the centuries, of one of the most compulsive mappings and intellectual obsessions undertaken by humanity becomes clear. [JG]