About the book: 2012 / The basis of this publication is a revised reproduction of Vadim Rabinovich's book "Alchemy as a phenomenon of medieval culture", published by the publishing house "Science" in 1979. Her idea is to reconstruct the image of medieval alchemy in its heretical, explosive opposition to the canonical Middle Ages. The heterogeneous nature of this amazing phenomenon obliges us to study it in all its connections with other spheres of the intellectual life of the era. At the same time, the features of radical historical transformations of medieval culture inevitably emerge in its alchemical focus on the path to the culture of the New Age - science, art, literature. The book is not outdated to this day. In this edition it has been significantly updated and re-illustrated. New sections appeared in it: “Sons of Doctrine” - a continuation of the author’s alchemical studies and “Under the Sign of Ouroboros” - a censored history of the first edition. Intended for everyone who is interested in the history of humanitarian thought.