Chemistry:Rasaratna Samuchaya
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Short description: Medieval treatise on alchemy in Sanskrit
Rasaratna Samuccaya ( Devanagari: रसरत्न समुच्चय) is an Indian Sanskrit treatise on alchemy. The text is dated between 13th[1] to 16th century CE.[2]
The text contains detailed descriptions of various complex metallurgical processes,[3][4] as well as descriptions of how to set up and equip a laboratory and other topics concerning Indian alchemy. It is a work that synthesises the writings and opinions of several earlier authors and presents a coherent account of medieval Indian alchemy.
Contents
Among the diverse scientific content of this text is:[5]
- Systematic approach to the Science. (Rasaratna Samuccaya 6/2)
- Philosophy of scientific explanation.
- Two kinds of mineral with zinc: calamine and Smithsonite. (Rasaratna Samuccaya 2-149)
- Color and nature of the mineral. ('Artha-sastra' '2 -30)
- Color of minerals with copper.
- Properties of some chemicals, such as calcium carbonate. (Rasaratna Samuccaya 3 / 130-131)
- Distillation of mercury. (Rasaratna Samucchaya 3/144)
- Explanation of the corrosion (Rasārṇava 7/97)
- The color of the flame (Rasārṇava 4/51)
- Three types of iron (Rasaratna Samuccaya 5/69)
- Two kinds of tin (Rasaratna Samuccaya 5 / 153-154)
- The lead (Rasaratna Samuccaya 5/170)
- The zinc metal (Rasataraṅgiṇi 19/95)
- The brass (Rasendra Cūḍāmaṇi14 / 154)
- The bronze (Rasaratna Samuccaya 5/205)
- Conditions of a laboratory and the people who work within it.
References
- ↑ White, David Gordon (1996-01-01) (in English). The alchemical body: Siddha traditions in medieval India. ISBN 9780226149349. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10757347.
- ↑ Meulenbeld, Gerrit Jan (1999-01-01) (in English). A history of Indian medical literature. Groningen: E. Forsten. ISBN 9789069801247. http://ualberta.worldcat.org/oclc/489259186.
- ↑ Indian Metallurgy
- ↑ Biswas, Arun Kumar (June 1986). "Rasa-Ratna-Samüccaya and Mineral Processing State-of-Art in the 13th Century a.d. India". Indian Journal of History of Science 22 (1) (29–46, 1987). Archived from the original on 2009-02-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20090227061211/http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005abf_29.pdf. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
- ↑ Ancient Indian Chemistry. Hindu culture (blog)
External links
- Indian Institute of Science and Heritage
- Introduction
- Printed edition in Sanskrit
- Electronic text based on the 1927 Calcutta printed edition, with extracts from the Bodhinī commentary, in the SARIT library.
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