+- Alchemy Discussion Forum (https://www.alchemywebsite.com/forums)
+-- Forum: Alchemy Discussion Forum (https://www.alchemywebsite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Forum: Articles on alchemy (https://www.alchemywebsite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=9)
+--- Thread: From Phosphorescent Urine to Contemporary Chemistry (/showthread.php?tid=3593)
From Phosphorescent Urine to Contemporary Chemistry - Paul Ferguson - 09-15-2026
How Alchemy Contributed to the Development of 21st-Century Science
"Let us set the scene: we are in Europe, at one of the continent’s most refined courts, more than three centuries ago. Before the king, the queen, and their entourage, a curious vial is paraded. All gaze in astonishment: its contents shine in the dark. It’s not magic, but science. The unusual glow comes from phosphorus, which had been obtained by accident from 1,500 gallons (about 5,700 liters) of human urine. Its discoverer, a seventeenth-century German alchemist, ruined two wives to fund his obsession. He sought gold, but found light."
https://www.thereminder.ca/from-phosphorescent-urine-to-contemporary-chemistry-how-alchemy-contributed-to-the-development-of-21st-century-science/