Marcelin Berthelot, historien des sciences

The French chemist Marcelin Berthelot (1827-1907) remained, throughout the latter part of his life, a historian of his discipline, investigating a broad spectrum of the chemical tradition, from the time of the ancient Greek alchemists through the medieval period and beyond, in his book on the modern Lavoisier. This intellectual pursuit preoccupied him until his very last days, which were passed, in fact, in the study of an Arabic alchemical manuscript, written in Hebrew characters, which he had had sent to him from Marocco. Berthelot's research on the origins of alchemy led him far afield in his investigations, into the world of the Asian and most especially the Indian sciences, and thus well beyond the Mediterranean world within which his humanistic pursuits have been thought to have been circumscribed. Berthelot's historical work has suffered a strange fate, considered as it is to be indispensable even as it is unusuable: unusuable due to its lack of philological rigor and uncritical use of historical documents, yet indispensable inasmuch as it constitutes an epochmaking work in the history of scholarly research on alchemy. In his research, this French man of science used his knowledge of chemistry to great advantage in his determinations of the various mineral ores and metals known to the ancients. Berthelot's work in this field established the foundations of chemical archeology, a field in which research has subsequently greatly expanded. Complementing his own pioneering efforts in the history of chemistry were Berthelot's abilities to inspire others to pursue similar scholarly trajectories. His example and encouragement stimulated other scholars of his time, of which some, such as Prafulla Chandra Rây (Calcutta), met with great success in their studies on the history of ancient and medieval Indian chemistry.