You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Towards the end of Philip Ball’s marvellous book on the history of alchemy he tells the story of ...

Imagine yourself in a chemistry lab. You are probably picturing a scene featuring a whole load of liquids – fluids bubbling in round-bottomed flasks, solutions swirling in test tubes, droplets running ...

Elisabeth Gruner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond ...