What real discoveries were made through Alchemy?

by Dream3r111

Alchemy was practiced by humans for aeons. Today we are educated that the primary goals of alchemy were the transmutation of metals (into gold) and the pursuit of an elixir of immortality.

While I know that the axioms of the field are well refuted, surely over the course of thousands of years, the pursuits of alchemists must have spread further than these two topics and surely if not by accident they would have come across some interesting chemical compounds.

My question is did the field of alchemy make any real discoveries? What use was an alchemist? Did they create or discover any poisons/explosives/alloys?

bemonk

Here's a list I've posted elsewhere:

  • gunpowder (Chinese alchemists)
  • tin foil
  • gold plating
  • ink,
  • dyes (Prussian Blue and Scarlet red)
  • paints,
  • ceramics (including porcelain in Europe)
  • cosmetics,
  • leather tanning
  • element: antimony, phosphorous, zinc
  • hydrochloric acid, Mercury oxide,
  • glass manufacture,
  • preparation of extracts,
  • liquors,
  • invented the Bain-marie (and other chemical apparati),
  • medicines for saffron …
  • distillation,
  • early periodic tables... (and general mineral and alloy classifications)
  • control systems (like thermostats, barometers, and thermometers)
  • but there are more... soooo many more.
  • oh yeah: poisons, explosives, alloys.

I've compiled this list a while ago, and now I'm currently writing a book about exactly this. So if you want more, I can come back with a lot more. Or do you want more details on specific inventions? Several episodes of http://historyofalchemy.com are about exactly that.