Fostered by stories of fraudsters, alchemists earned a bad reputation that lasted for centuries. Their reputation formed the typical stereotype of the alchemist. While alchemists were merely wasting their time transforming elements by attempting to change base metals into gold, they did encourage the means of modern day science. Therefore, alchemists were not charlatans. Alchemy was studied by some of the "greats of science" such as, Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle. "Behind the baffling terminology and mystical allusion, we see revealed a long and ancient line of philosophers and experimenters searching for secrets far more precious than gold." (Page 44) .
Dating back to Aristotle, the framework of Alchemy examined all of the aspects of nature. Aristotle believed that all worldly substances were made up of five elements. These elements included; air, earth, fire, water and quintessence. He believed that every element on the face of the earth fell into one of the above categories. "Alchemy had the general aim of making sense of nature in all its complexity." (Page 45) Alchemy evolved until the main goal was defined - to isolate the "philosopher's stone". Isolating the stone would allow man to bring perfection to the world; as it perfected gold on the way to the surface. .
At the end of its centuries-long metamorphosis, alchemy's main goal was to isolate Sendivogius" "aerial food of life" which was, essentially the same concept of the "philosopher's stone." However, Sendivogius never distilled the elixir from air. The man that did discover it was Priestley, in 1774, not withstanding the mysterious bottled substance Drebbel used to purify the air in his submarine during the year of 1621. .
Sendivogius, like alchemy, does not hold the historical status and respect he deserves. "Alchemy was more than just a predecessor to chemistry - it was a "living chemistry - the study of which encompassed the entirety of nature.