Meetup: The Quest for the Philosopher’s Stone (Sep 26)

[Vadim Kosoy]

Talk night in LessWrong TLV!

Speaker: Beny Falkovich

Location: Yigal Alon 118, Tel Aviv

Gathering: 19:00

Talk begins: approximately 19:30

Talk ends (but meetup continues!): approximately 20:30

The venue is called "The Cluster", entrance is from Totseret Ha'aretz street, through a brown door with a doorbell (if the door is closed ring and someone will let you in).

Abstract:

Western alchemy and its unattainable objective of Chrysopoeia – metal transmutation – evoke connotations of the occult and unnatural. However, its practitioners, from Maria Hebraea to Isaac Newton, were, above all, dedicated, meticulous and highly resourceful experimentalists whose procedures and theories were rooted in real empirical observation of chemical processes. The firm belief in the possibility of transforming metals to gold and silver is a direct consequence of the various theories of materials and their transformations, built logically from the prevailing philosophies and known experimental facts. In the talk I will describe the chemistry behind some historical alchemical texts and trace the story of Western Alchemy from its roots in artisanal tricks in Roman Egypt up to the chemical revolution of the 18th century.

[Vadim Kosoy]

See also Facebook event

[Vadim Kosoy]

Event venue was changed!

New venue is Amobee, 125 Begin St., Tel Aviv, 36th floor. (Kitty-corner to Azrieli Mall.) Use left entrance to building, and go all the way to the back of the lobby. Take an elevator to 25th floor (the skylobby), and then another elevator to 36th floor.

[Vadim Kosoy]

Venue changed again!

New venue is Google Tel Aviv, Yigal Alon St. 98 (Electra Tower), 29th floor, the "Dodly Room," opposite the elevators.