Gehennical Fire
The Lives of George Starkey, an American Alchemist in the Scientific Revolution
9780226577142
Gehennical Fire
The Lives of George Starkey, an American Alchemist in the Scientific Revolution
Both the quest for natural knowledge and the aspiration to alchemical wisdom played crucial roles in the Scientific Revolution, as William R. Newman demonstrates in this fascinating book about George Starkey (1628-1665), America’s first famous scientist. Beginning with Starkey’s unusual education in colonial New England, Newman traces out his many interconnected careers—natural philosopher, alchemist, chemist, medical practitioner, economic projector, and creator of the fabulous adept, "Eirenaeus Philalethes." Newman reveals the profound impact Starkey had on the work of Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle, Samuel Hartlib, and other key thinkers in the realm of early modern science.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
A Note on Terminology
Foreword, 2002
Introduction
1 Starkey in America
2 Arcan Maiora: The Hartlib Years (1650-1654)
3 The Background to Starkey’s Chymistry
4 Revelation and Concealment: The Writings of Philaleths
5 A Sonne of Contention: 1655-1665
6 Philalethes in Context
7 Isaac Newton and Eirenaeus Philalethes
Appendix IStarkey’s Addresses in England, 1650-1665
Appendix IIAn Autobiographical Note by George Starkey
Appendix IIIMissing Starkey Manuscripts
Appendix IVRobert Boyle’s "Excuses of Philaletha"
Appendix VA Bibliography of Starkey’s Writings
Abbreviations
Notes
Index
A Note on Terminology
Foreword, 2002
Introduction
1 Starkey in America
2 Arcan Maiora: The Hartlib Years (1650-1654)
3 The Background to Starkey’s Chymistry
4 Revelation and Concealment: The Writings of Philaleths
5 A Sonne of Contention: 1655-1665
6 Philalethes in Context
7 Isaac Newton and Eirenaeus Philalethes
Appendix IStarkey’s Addresses in England, 1650-1665
Appendix IIAn Autobiographical Note by George Starkey
Appendix IIIMissing Starkey Manuscripts
Appendix IVRobert Boyle’s "Excuses of Philaletha"
Appendix VA Bibliography of Starkey’s Writings
Abbreviations
Notes
Index