A pseudo‐science originating independently in China, Greece, and India in about the 3rd century bc, concerned with the possible transmutation of all matter, most famously the transmutation of base metals, such as lead, into gold. The transmutation was variously an end in itself, a means by which to make an elixir of life, and a route to the creation of a panacea, or universal medicine. Early alchemy degenerated into superstition and mysticism, but the art flourished once again in the 8th century ad in Arab countries. Translations of Arabic alchemical texts led in the 12th century to a second revival of alchemy in Europe, notably in Prague. It attracted such medieval scholars as Roger Bacon (c.1219–c.92) and St Albertus Magnus (c.1200–80), and was patronized by princes and emperors. The influential Swiss writer Paracelsus (16th century) was primarily concerned with its medical application to his search for a chemical therapy for disease; his followers developed specialized chemical medicines and sought a universal elixir, which they dreamed would prolong life and restore youth. During the Renaissance alchemy fell into disrepute, but the chemical experience accumulated by alchemists over many centuries became the basis upon which the modern science of chemistry was built.