Chaucer the Alchemist: Physics, Mutability, and the Medieval Imagination [Hardcover]

The secrets of nature's alchemy captivated both the scientific and literary imagination of the Middle Ages. This book explores Chaucer's fascination with earth's mutability. Gabrovsky reveals that his poetry represents a major contribution to a medieval worldview centered on the philosophy of physics, astronomy, alchemy, and logic.

Alexander N. Gabrovskys book is an important study into the role of alchemy and transmutation in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer and fourteenth-century scientific thought. & Gabrovsky provides important insights about the relationship between medieval alchemy and physics and how it affects the reading of medieval literature. & the book is especially useful for considering the role of alchemy and science in Chaucers works and its impact upon character development and the imagination. (Curtis Runstedler, Ambix, Vol. 65 (04), September, 2018)

Alexander N. Gabrovsky received a PhD in English from Cambridge University, UK. Gabrovsky's insightful book contributes persuasive new evidence to support Chaucer's Renaissance reputation as a master-alchemist. - Terry Jones, author of Chaucer's Knight and Who Murdered Chaucer

This is a wonderful and much needed book that responds to recent advances in the history of science and uses them to formulate some striking and provocative readings of Chaucer. Not only does Gabrovsky provide new evidence for the multi-dimensionality of the poet's learning, he also shows us the creativity with which that learning is deployed. Highlights of the book include the alchemical Franklin's Tale, Troilus 'the alembic,' and the discovery of organic decay as a unique sign of 'aliveness.' - Nicolette Zeeman, Senior Lecturer in English Studies, University of Cambridge, UK

This remarkable new study of Chaucer's writing is both exciting and impressively learned, informed by the author's knowledge of medieval science at its most complex. Chaucer is shown to be deeply engl³B