Chemistry

ISC1010C - The Secrets of Alchemy (Fall 2025)

⚠️ If using the resources in the guide from off campus, please make sure you're connected to the UF VPN to ensure access.

Topic Exploration

It can be helpful to read broad introductory sources to get your footing and help develop ideas for your research interest. Beyond the readings from your course, try looking up "alchemy" or related terms in these reference works. Make notes of the topics you find interesting and the questions that arise while you explore. These notes will help you hone in on a more specific research topic.

As you develop your research question, consider the terms you might use to search more specific topics. You may find the Search Tips page on this Chemistry Library Guide helpful for formulating search statements.

Every database below works a little differently, but you will generally want to look at the intersection between at least two different ideas. Here are a few examples: 

• (alchemy OR alchemical) AND (experimental OR "scientific method")
• gold AND transmutation AND catholic* 
• Paracelsus AND hermetic*

Primary Sources 

Here are a handful of places look for primary sources:

• Europeana: Digital library of Europe. Contains a large amount of digitized artwork and manuscripts. 
• ProQuest, Early English Books Online: Contains "page images of almost every work printed in the British Isles and North America, as well as works in English printed elsewhere from 1470-1700."
• Science History Institute - Alchemy: Digital collections of the Science History Institute in Philadelphia containing "selected manuscripts, rare books, paintings, and ephemera relating to alchemical topics and experimentation." 
• Smithsonian Institute - Heralds of Science: Digitized rare books on early modern science, including works of Robert Boyle. 

Secondary Sources

To search for books, ebooks, videos, and other items in the Libraries collections, you can search the UF Libraries Catalog in Primo. 

• Online sources will be marked as "Available Online" (Example)
• Print sources will include the library branch location where you can find the volume (Example)

The best way to find specialized scholarship is to use an academic database. There are many subject-specific databases available through our library subscriptions for delving deeper into your specific research questions: 

As you find sources, check out this Evaluating Sources page on the Introduction to Library Research guide for information about choosing academic sources that meet your needs. 

Citing Sources

View the American Chemical Society (ACS) Style Quick Guide to learn more about formatting different types of citations in the ACS style. 

You can use a reference manager to collect, organize, and annotate the sources you find in your own personal library. When you go to write, these managers will also format your citations for you.

	I highly recommend using Zotero. You can install the desktop version on your device. Free, open source with strong data privacy policies Keep notes/highlights all in one place with your sources Integrates well with Microsoft Word and Google Drive Fully accessible after you leave UF
	Just need one citation quickly formatted? Use ZoteroBib in your browser.

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