Particle Data Platform

Who are we to fight the alchemy?

3/16/202632 min

Many alchemical texts are full of bizarre, metaphorical language. But what if there's interesting science hiding behind some of those metaphors?

Guest: Lawrence Principe, professor of the history of science and professor of chemistry at Johns Hopkins University

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Clips

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First 90 seconds
  1. Bert Pinkerton· Host0:00

    Support for the show comes from Anthropic, the team behind Claude. They say that Claude is the collaborator that actually understands your entire workflow. So for developers, that looks like Claude Code. It runs in your terminal, reads your code base, and can apparently take on things like writing tests, refactoring, or debugging without you hand-holding it through every step. Anthropic committed to not running ads in Claude, so when you are deep in something that matters to you, they say the answer you get is shaped by your question, not by an advertiser's agenda. Ready to tackle bigger problems? Get started with Claude today at claude.ai/unexplainable.

  2. Speaker 10:39

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  3. Bert Pinkerton· Host0:50

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  5. Bert Pinkerton· Host1:02

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  6. Speaker 11:06

    Back Market, where the world shops refurbished tech.

  7. Bert Pinkerton· Host1:11

    [tense music] Lawrence Principe has been interested in alchemy for a while now.

  8. Lawrence Principe· Guest1:23

    Many years ago, and I won't say how many, when I was in high school, I was

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