Alchemical laboratory by Wellcome Library, London lisenced under CC BY 4.0
Many credit the founding of modern chemistry to the alchemist Al-Jabr Ibn Hayyan also known as Geber to the Europeans. Geber was likely born in an Iraqi city around 721AD. He was a Sunni Muslim born to a pharmacist. Geber followed in his father’s footsteps as he became one of the first alchemist and scientific researcher. (Amr & Tbakhi, 2007) Geber’s research was focused on turning, “metals, such as lead, tin, and iron, …into gold by mixing certain chemical substances” (Center for Islamic Studies, 2002) While historical sources debate the success of these experiments, Geber made several revolutionary discoveries. Among these discoveries were, “distillation, calcification, dissolution, [and] crystallization…” (Johann Grüninger, 1531) Distillation and crystallization are among two of the most crucial chemical practices still used in modern-day chemistry to isolate organic compounds from the inorganic one. This practice, while useful in chemical research, also plays a crucial role in drug manufacturing and development in the modern-day pharmaceutical industry.
References
Amr, S. S., & Tbakhi, A. (2007, January). Jabir ibn Hayyan. Retrieved from NCBI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6077026/
Johann Grüninger, S. (1531). The Three Books on Alchemy by Geber, the Great Philosopher and Alchemist. Retrieved from World Digital Library: https://www.wdl.org/en/item/10675/
Science & Faith. (2020, August 10). Jabbir Ibn Haiyan (Geber) – Father of Chemistry. Retrieved from Science and Faith: https://www.thesciencefaith.com/jabbir-ibn-haiyan-geber-father-of-chemistry/
Johann Grüninger, S. (1531). The Three Books on Alchemy by Geber, the Great Philosopher and Alchemist. Retrieved from World Digital Library: https://www.wdl.org/en/item/10675/
Science & Faith. (2020, August 10). Jabbir Ibn Haiyan (Geber) – Father of Chemistry. Retrieved from Science and Faith: https://www.thesciencefaith.com/jabbir-ibn-haiyan-geber-father-of-chemistry/