Alchemy is an old mix of science, philosophy, and magic that people practiced before modern chemistry. In simple terms: **Alchemy is the ancient attempt to turn ordinary things into valuable ones** — like turning **metal into gold** or **finding a cure that heals everything** (called the _elixir of life_). Alchemists believed everything was made of basic elements, and by understanding and transforming those, they thought they could control nature and even gain immortality. Today, we don’t take the magical parts seriously, but alchemy helped develop modern science by pushing people to experiment and observe the natural world.