The Glowing Mistake: How Alchemy Accidentally Discovered Phosphorus
llustration of Hennig Brand discovering phosphorus by heating urine in a 17th-century alchemy lab, with glowing white vapour rising from a pot. © ViScienceBlogs Throughout history, many of the most groundbreaking scientific discoveries began not with precision or foresight, but with strange ideas and pure curiosity. In the case of phosphorus, the first element to be chemically discovered and isolated in modern times, the story begins in the most unexpected of places: a bucket of human urine. This strange and smelly journey, which unfolded in the 17th century, marks the point where alchemy unknowingly gave way to chemistry, and the pursuit of gold uncovered something even more valuable knowledge. When Science Glowed (and Smelled) Strange Science isn’t always born in pristine labs or written in textbooks. Sometimes, it rises from bizarre beliefs, failed goals and in this case, over 50 buckets of human urine. Back in the 1600s, a man chasing gold stumbled upon something far m...