La chimie du Moyen Âge au XVIIIe siècle

Chymistry from the Middle Ages to the 18th Century…and Back Again


A hybrid symposium, held online and in-person. 

Saturday October 16, 2021, at the Science History Institute, Philadelphia, USA.


A Symposium in Honor of Lawrence M. Principe, 2020 Recipient of the HIST Award of the American Chemical Society (ACS). Sponsored by the ACS and the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry (SHAC).

Registration and program: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chymistry-from-the-middle-ages-to-the-18th-centuryand-back-again-tickets-173832927967

This symposium brings together scholars of science and medicine to honor the recipient of the HIST Award for Outstanding Achievement in the History of Chemistry (formerly the Dexter Award and Sidney M. Edelstein Award): Lawrence M. Principe, Drew Professor of the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University in the Department of History Science and the Department of Chemistry. He is the author of several books, including The Secrets of Alchemy and, most recently, The Transmutations of Chymistry: Wilhelm Homberg and the Académie Royale des Sciences.


The objects of Principe’s scholarship—and of our symposium—range from medieval distillation practices to early modern theories of matter, using methods as diverse as experimental reconstruction, text editing, and the interpretation of alchemical allegories. This day-long symposium presents new research in diverse fields of “chymistry”—while revealing unexpected continuities in the long history of the chemical sciences.

This hybrid symposium will be held online and in-person. In-person registration includes coffee and lunch. For in-person attendance, proof of vaccination is required. Masks will be worn at the venue.


Schedule (all times in EDT):


10:30 a.m. | Introduction and Welcome

10:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m. | Heaven and Earth: From the Middle Ages to the 16th Century

“Reason and Experiment in Roger Bacon’s Alchemical and Medical Practice”
Meagan Allen (Indiana University Bloomington and Science History Institute)

“Seeking the Quintessence in Early Modern England: The Case of Dr. William Butler”
Jennifer M. Rampling (Princeton University)

“The Chymistry of Rainbows, Winds, and Lightning in Paracelsus”
Didier Kahn (CNRS, Paris)

12:15 p.m.–1:30 p.m. | Lunch

1:30 p.m – 3:30 p.m. | Philosophy and Practice: From the 17th Century to the 18th

“Situating Robert Boyle’s Medical Recipes in the Corpuscular Philosophy”
Michelle DiMeo (Science History Institute)

“Newton’s Muse: Johann de Monte Snyder”
William R. Newman (Indiana University Bloomington)

“Descriptions of Furnaces are Lame: Constructing and Writing about Furnaces (1640–1760)”
Thijs Hagendijk (KU Leuven)

“The Principles of Brewing: Michael Combrune and Boerhaavian Chemistry in the Brewhouse”
John C. Powers (Virginia Commonwealth University)


3:30 p.m.–3:50 p.m. | Coffee break

3:50 p.m.–4:00 p.m. | Presentation of the HIST Award

4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. | Keynote lecture


“A Matter of Some Weight”
Lawrence M. Principe (Johns Hopkins University)