Alchemy

Alchemy is a philosophical and protoscientific tradition practiced throughout Egypt and Eurasia which aimed to purify, mature, and perfect certain objects. Common aims were chrysopoeia, the transmutation of "base metals" (e.g., lead) into "noble" ones (particularly gold); the creation of an elixir of immortality; the creation of panaceas able to cure any disease; and the development of an alkahest, a universal solvent. The perfection of the human body and soul was thought to permit or result from the alchemical magnum opus and, in the Hellenistic and western tradition, the achievement of gnosis. In Europe, the creation of a philosopher's stone was variously connected with all of these projects.

In English, the term is often limited to descriptions of European alchemy, but similar practices existed in the Far East, the Indian subcontinent, and the Muslim world. In Europe, following the 12th-century Renaissance produced by the translation of Arabic works on science and the Recovery of Aristotle, alchemists played a significant role in early modern science (particularly chemistry and medicine). Islamic and European alchemists developed a structure of basic laboratory techniques, theory, terminology, and experimental method, some of which are still in use today. However, they continued antiquity's belief in four elements and guarded their work in secrecy including cyphers and cryptic symbolism. Their work was guided by Hermetic principles related to magic, mythology, and religion.

Alchemist (disambiguation)

An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist may also refer to:

Books and stories

Art

Music

Alchemist (video game)

Alchemist is a computer game developed by Ian Weatherburn for the ZX Spectrum and released by Imagine Software in 1983. It is an action-adventure video game in which the player controls an alchemist who may shape-shift into a golden eagle.

History

Alchemist was authored by Ian Weatherburn and Paul Lindale, and was Imagine's first arcade adventure. This release was also the first piece of software to be released on a gold-coloured cassette and box.

Gameplay

The player controls a skilled alchemist, who has been summoned to defeat an evil warlock. The game takes place in the warlock's castle, with the objective of finding four pieces of a magic scroll. This will allow the alchemist to use the "Spell of Destruction" to defeat the warlock.

The alchemist can transform into a golden eagle, requiring the use of spell energy. Transforming between the two is essential to completing the game: The alchemist can hurl lightning bolts and other spells, but the eagle form is required to negotiate steep hills or drops. The alchemist can only carry one item at a time and food needs to be found during the game to keep stamina levels up. Movement, bumping into objects, or transforming depletes stamina. Fighting monsters also reduces stamina although this can be mitigated by carrying an axe or sword.

Tangle

Tangle may refer to:

See also

Tangle (mathematics)

In mathematics, the word tangle usually refers to one of two related concepts:

In link theory, a tangle is an embedding of n arcs and m circles into – the difference from the previous definition is that it includes circles as well as arcs, and partitions the boundary into two (isomorphic) pieces, which is algebraically more convenient – it allows one to add tangles by stacking them, for instance.

(A quite different use of 'tangle' appears in Graph minors X. Obstructions to tree-decomposition by N. Robertson and P. D. Seymour, J. Combinatorial Theory B 59 (1991) 153--190, who used it to describe separation in graphs. This usage has been extended to matroids.)

The balance of this article discusses Conway's sense of tangles; for the link theory sense, see that article.

Two n-tangles are considered equivalent if there is an ambient isotopy of one tangle to the other keeping the boundary of the 3-ball fixed. Tangle theory can be considered analogous to knot theory except instead of closed loops we use strings whose ends are nailed down. See also braid theory.

Tangle (series 3)

The third series of Tangle, an Australian drama television series, was confirmed in December 2010, and production began in June 2011 and ended in August. Series three will contain six episodes, and is written by Fiona Seres and Tony McNamara, and directed by Emma Freeman and Michael James Rowland.

Cast

Episodes

References