Maria the Jewess is credited with establishing the theoretical and practical foundations of alchemy, the forerunner of modern chemistry in the western world. She was one of the first chemists to combine the theories of alchemical science with the practical chemistry of the craft traditions. Although her theoretical contributions remained influential into the middle ages and beyond, Maria was more famous for her designs of laboratory apparatus.

Although nothing is known of her life, there are many references to Maria in ancient texts and she is believed to have lived in Alexandria, Egypt, in the first century. Founded by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C., under the ruler Ptolemy, Alexandria became the center of Greek science, featuring an institute of higher learning called the Museum, the Great Library, a zoo, botanical gardens and an observatory. However by the first century, the Greco- Roman world had entered an intellectual...