Yes and no. I think of alchemy as early contact between mysticism and objectivity. People thought mysticism was a valid way to get info about the world. The

Yes and no. I think of alchemy as early contact between mysticism and objectivity. People thought mysticism was a valid way to get info about the world. The failure of alchemy proved them wrong and may have partly led to a more skeptical "hypothesize and test" approach from the original "try to confirm religion" approach.