Alchemists still performed experiments on chemical reactions, discovered new ones and described them, practiced how to separate substances and for that they developed tools and methods, that were later in chemistry. It’s not like it was an inherent waste of time, it was a necessary stepping-stone to get to chemistry, which developed from it more gradually than it’s typically acknowledged.
Alchemists still performed experiments on chemical reactions, discovered new ones and described them, practiced how to separate substances and for that they developed tools and methods, that were later in chemistry. It’s not like it was an inherent waste of time, it was a necessary stepping-stone to get to chemistry, which developed from it more gradually than it’s typically acknowledged.