Who Was the First Ever Chemist?

The history of the science of chemistry is a lengthy one, stretching back thousands of years. It may surprise you to know that the first recorded instances of chemistry took place as far back as 1200 BC. And it may surprise you even further that the chemist involved was female.

A Mesopotamian tablet describes the work of a woman named Tapputi-Belatikallim, a perfumer who would distil, filter, dilute and refilter the essence of flowers until she achieved the fragrance that she was looking for. As well as being the first recorded instance of chemistry, it is also the first mention of distillation and of a working still.

The Greeks

The thread of chemistry was next picked up the Greeks, who proposed early elemental theories. Empedocles in 450 BC was the first to suggest the presence of the four elements: earth, air, water and fire. 90 years later, Plato was the first to use the term “elements” itself. The idea of the atom was suggested first by Leucippus and Democritus in 440 BC and then built upon by Lucretius in 50 BC in his poetic work, De Rerum Natura.

Alchemy – the practice of attempting to turn baser metals into more precious ones – was also a point of focus for the Greeks and some of the earliest ideas expounded on the subject can be found in Zosimos of Panoplis’s texts upon the subject, published around 300 BC.

Islam

The pursuit of alchemy was taken up by the Persian alchemist Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan, better known as “Geber”. In contrast to the Greeks, Geber began using experimental, laboratory-based methods to conduct his research. Previously, the Greeks’ theories had been largely that - abstract theories difficult to test practically. For this reason, Geber is often known as the “father of chemistry”.

Cerca 1000 BC, the discipline of alchemy was refuted and discredited by Persian chemists Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī and Avicenna. Of course, these days alchemy is a thing of legend and myth, scarcely credited with the possibility of falling within the realms of science. However, back then the transmutation of metals was believed to be a real possibility, and so their work was groundbreaking. Though scientists have given up on true alchemy nowadays, a sort of faux-alchemy has actually helped to drive down the costs of experimentation in some laboratories. For more information on such developments, read the article Creating Faux Gold for Clinical Laboratory IT Solutions.

As well as bringing a more practical and grounded approach to chemistry, Muslim scientists also did much to develop it as a science and bring it to the Western world. Among other achievements, Muslims invented, developed or perfected the processes of oxidation, crystallisation, distillation, sublimation, precipitation and calcination. They are also credited with discovering a multitude of elements and their weights and introducing the pH scale, as well as the advent of crystal making, steel making and large-scale paper production. Though Europeans are often thought of as the real pioneers of modern-day science, Muslim contribution cannot be overlooked and many of today’s theories and beliefs would not have been possible without their input.