( 15 )The philosophy underlying the practice of
alchemy emerged in similar forms in ancient China,
India, and Greece. The alchemists believed that all
matter consisted of various combinations of five
elements—air, water, earth, fire, and space—and that
( 20 )there were correspondences among the elements, the
planets, and metals. They regarded gold as the “purest”
and “noblest” of all metals and believed that “base”
metals such as copper and lead were only imperfectly
developed forms of gold. The base metals were said to
( 25 )contain impurities that “weighed down” their perfect
qualities. Under certain astrological conditions, the
alchemists believed that these metals could be purified
through long heating or other treatments. Since they
believed in the interrelationship between the natural
( 30 )world and the human world, this “purification”
process had a profound significance for the alchemists.
With purification, the alchemists believed that base
metals attained a state of perfection, just as human
souls attained a perfect state in heaven.
( 35 )In the twelfth century, translations of Arabic
works on alchemy started to become available in
Europe, generating a new wave of European interest in
the art. In this period, alchemists made many
important chemical discoveries, such as the mineral
( 40 )acids and alcohol. As late as the seventeenth century,
that supreme genius of rationalism, Sir Isaac Newton,
devoted thirty years to the study of alchemy.
Ultimately, the possibility of making gold was
conclusively disproved in the nineteenth century. But
( 45 )this belief provided the basis for some of the most
fascinating chapters in the history of science.
27. Which of the following best tells what the passage is about?(A) the history of alchemy
(B) how the alchemists manufactured gold
(C) the chemicals discovered by the alchemists
(D) how modern chemistry evolved from alchemy
(E) the pioneering research of Isaac Newton