lchemy was based on ideas passed along by older cultures, including Chinese, Egyptian, East Indian, Greek, Syrian, and Islamic. These ancient peoples had learned how to extract metals from ores and knew how to make alloys, soap, glass, leather, alum, dyes, and fermented liquors.

Many alchemists were impostors and fakers who pretended to be able to produce gold. Others, however, were honest. They performed practical experiments in their quest for the philosophers' stone. They never found it, but they made contributions to chemistry and developed laboratory techniques. By heating the compound iron sulfate, for example, they produced "oil of vitriol," which is known today as sulfuric acid. They made hydrochloric and nitric acid and compounds such as potash and sodium carbonate. They also identified the elements arsenic, antimony, and bismuth.

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