Silver By Fire Silver By Mercury

In Silver by Fire, Silver by Mercury Saul Guerrero presents a chemical history of the refining of silver ores in New Spain and Mexico, 16c to 19c, with a quantitative analysis of its industrial practice, and its environmental impact.

In Silver by Fire, Silver by Mercury: A Chemical History of Silver Refining in New Spain and Mexico, 16th to 19th Centuries, Saul Guerrero combines historical research with geology and chemistry to refute the current prevailing narrative of a primitive effort dominated by mercury and its copious emissions to the air. Based on quantitative historical data, visual records and geochemical fundamentals, Guerrero analyses the chemical and economic reasons why two refining processes had to share production, creating along the way major innovations in the chemical recipes, milling equipment, mercury recycling practice, and industrial architecture and operations. Their main environmental impact was lead fume and the depletion of woodlands from smelting, and the transformation of mercury into calomel during the patio process.

The sources, distribution, toxicity and management of environmental contaminants, from molecular interactions to ecological effects.

Eirenaeus Philalethes was reputed to have performed miracles--restoring an aged lady's teeth and hair, bringing a withered peach tree to fruit--and was also rumored to possess a philosophers' stone. That he was merely a mythical creation didn't diminish his public reputation a whit. This is the story of the man behind the myth, George Starkey.

The Liber secretorum alchimie is an attempt to introduce alchemy into Aristotle's science: manipulating metals, astronomy, astrology, geography and even theology are combined in these lecture notes taken by a 13th century medical student to make a fascinating review of themes which were hotly debated in medieval Italian university circles.