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Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Better Living Through Alchemy: Private Lives and Alchemical Pursuits in a Tuscan Village and Colonial America
Bruce Moran, University of Nevada, Reno


The talk explores the broad meaning of alchemy in the early modern era and focuses upon its place in the private lives of two early 17th figures.  The first is a Tuscan potter, Dionigi Marmi, who is held responsible for a murder and attempts to rebuild his life, in part, by learning practical alchemy.  The second is a graduate of Harvard College, George Starkey, who leads a double life by creating an alter ego as an alchemical adept.

Bruce Moran is a recent arrival in Waltham, and at present is splitting his time between Massachusetts and Nevada.  In semi retirement, he teaches in the history department at the University of Nevada, Reno (completing a career there of more than 40 years) while continuing research in the history of science and early medicine as a visiting fellow at Harvard.