Turba Philosophorum: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Alchemie

Abstract

ANY man of science who wishes to see scientific method applied to solve literary and historical problems will savour intense intellectual delight in Prof. Ruska's book on the “Turba Philosophorum”. A major enigma in itself, the Turba comprises a multitude of lesser riddles, and though the author with characteristic modesty describes his work as a mere preliminary study, he will be found to have left but comparatively little for future research to unravel. Like the Emerald Table of Hermes, upon which also Ruska has published a valuable investigation, the Turba enjoyed an authoritative reputation, among medieval alchemists, and was confidently quoted whenever it was desired to clinch an argument or conclusively to refute an opponent. An English version of this alchemical classic was made so long ago as 1896, by the learned historian of occultism, Mr. A. E. Waite, but a critical study of the problem as a whole remained unattempted until Prof. Ruska began his systematic work upon it in 1927. Turba Philosophorum: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Alchemie. Von Julius Ruska. (Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und der Medizin: Fortsetzung des Archivs fur Geschichte der Mathematik, der Naturwissenschaften und der Technik. Herausgegeben vom Institut fur Geschichte der Medizin und der Naturwissenschaften. Redigiert von P. Diepgen und J. Ruska, Band 1.) Pp. x + 368. (Berlin: Julius Springer, 1931.) 58 gold marks.