SOURCE: "Albertus Magnus on Alchemy," in Albertus Magnus and the Sciences: Commemorative Essays 1980, edited by James A. Weisheipl, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1980, pp. 187-202.

In the following essay, Kibre focuses on Albert's association with the Medieval science of alchemy and on several apocryphal alchemical texts sometimes attributed to him.

Albert's interest in alchemy, the art, in his words, that best imitates nature, is revealed in the references to the subject in his authentic writings, particularly the Book of Minerals (Liber mineralium), his Commentary on Aristotle's Meteorology, and other tracts. He had investigated and made a careful study of the subject in the course of his inquiry into the nature of metals, for guidance in which he had sought in vain for the treatise by Aristotle. Without that guide, he was, as he reported, obliged to follow his own devices and to set down what he had learned...