Elements of the Theory and Practice of Chymistry, 5th ed.

"Elements of the Theory and Practice of Chymistry, 5th ed." by Pierre Joseph Macquer, is a crucial guidebook that bridges old alchemical ideas with new scientific thinking in the field of chemistry during the late 1700s. This book stands as an introduction to the core ideas and hands-on work related to chemistry, highlighting a time when chemistry began to rely more on experiments rather than just ancient beliefs. Macquer stresses how important it is to learn by watching and doing experiments, a big change from the wild guesses made by chemists before him. He plans the book to teach newcomers the basics, starting with simple elements like air, water, earth, and fire, and then moving on to more complicated mixtures and how they react with each other, all while setting up a way to study chemistry both as a theory and as something to practice.