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賢者之石是一個神話般的物質──西方煉金術長期以來的聖杯──被認為能拿來將一般非貴重金屬變成黃金、或製造能讓人長生不老的萬能藥。The Great Work, or Magnum Opus, refers to the quest for this stone. In addition, making the Philosopher's Stone is understood to confer a type of initiation upon the maker, and this initiation is the proper culmination of the Great Work.
煉金術上的魔法石
賢者之石的概念明顯來自西元第八世紀的一位阿拉伯裔葉門人（生於波斯）煉金術師Geber(Geber)。他分析了亞里斯多德的四大元素：熱、冷、乾、溼。火是熱與乾，土是冷與乾，水是冷與溼，空氣是熱與溼。他進一步建立了「所有金屬都是這四種元素的結合」的理論：兩個為內部元素、另二個為外部元素。
在這個情況下，一種金屬變質成另一種金屬的過程，被推論為這四種物質的重組。在假設中，促成這項轉變的媒介是一種在阿拉伯語中稱為al-iksir（此字衍生出西方萬能藥的單字elixir）的物質。該物質被想像是用神秘的石頭──賢者之石製成的乾粉。當時人們相信賢者之石由一種稱作carmot的物質構成。
需求與騙局
有物質可將賤金屬轉變成珍貴的黃金的想法自然而然地吸引了各種企業家──內行人和外行人、多疑的人與易受騙的人、誠實的人與不誠實的人。這個時代的一個典型例子是神聖羅馬時期的鲁道夫二世(Rudolf II，1552年-1612年)。波希米亞王鲁道夫二世當時遭遇財政問題，決定大筆投資在尋找賢者之石上。結果，他吸引了一大班鍊金術士來到當時波希米亞的首都布拉格。在那裡，術士們都得到研究所需的物質及金錢上的援助。而且，魯道夫二世更承諾，若他們成功解決問題，所得到的報酬當然會更多。這股“虛擬尋金熱”結果把丹麥的著名天文學家Tycho Brahe亦引來魯道夫二世的宮廷，並以他在觀察上的基礎，幫魯道夫二世建立了一家鍊金實驗室。
可惜的是，鲁道夫二世不單未能完夢，還使他變得失去理智，結果被家人遺棄。他怎樣失去理智，是自然的原因，還是因為經常接觸有毒的重金屬，我們今日不得而知。不過，鍊金術通常都會用到鉛、水銀、砷、銻等有毒的金屬和半金屬，而那個年代的人卻不知道這些金屬會使人慢性中毒。
爱德华·凯莱
Among those who took Rudolf's offer were the English scholar 約翰·迪伊(John Dee), and his assistant Edward Kelley, one of the many alchemists who have claimed possession of the philosopher's stone.
Specifically, Kelley claimed that he had acquired in England small amounts of two powders, one white and one red, which had allegedly been found in Wales, in the raided tomb of a Bishop. From these two powders, Kelley would prepare a red "tincture", one drop of which could turn a larger quantity of heated mercury (element) into gold. There are reports that he performed this feat several times, once even in the presence of Rudolf's court officials, and the gold was later tested and found to be genuine. He is also reported as sending to queen Elizabeth I of England a copper bed warmer which had been partly transmuted into gold.
Kelley also carried with him a cryptic manuscript, which he claimed had been found with the powders, and which presumably held the secret of their manufacture. On the basis of these claims, Kelley obtained much support from Rudolf — so much so that, when Dee broke with him and returned to England, Kelley chose to remain in Prague. However, Kelley eventually ran out of his magic powders, was jailed by Rudolf in a tower of his castle, and died of injuries sustained in an extravagant escape attempt.
The nature of Kelley's powders is open to conjecture. Gold can be dissolved by aqua regia to give a red-colored chloride, from which the metal can be easily recovered by heat or simple chemical means. Although that salt has a tendency to decompose on its own, it seems at least possible that Kelley simply plated a layer of gold on some other metal (possibly dissolved in the mercury to form an amalgam) and then used sleight-of-hand or bribery to pass the goldsmith's test.
現代觀點
Though the notion of a simple philosopher's stone of the alchemic sense fell out of scientific conception by at least the 19th century, its metaphors and imagery persisted: man's attempt to discover the essential secret of the universe, redemptively transforming not just lead into gold, but death into life. In 1901, Ernest Rutherford and Frederick Soddy discovered that radioactivity was a sign of fundamental changes within elements, and it was Soddy who quickly made the connection between this and the ancient search for the philosopher's stone (Soddy had studied alchemy extensively as a hobby). At the moment of realization that their radioactive thorium was converting itself into radium, bit by bit, Soddy later recalled that he shouted out: "Rutherford, this is transmutation!" Rutherford snapped back, "For Mike's sake, Soddy, don't call it transmutation. They'll have our heads off as alchemists." However the term stuck, in part because it drew the new discoveries in nuclear physics into a longer cultural and mystical web. When it was discovered that radioactivity was also tapping into a latent source of energy bound inside atoms, this furthered the thought that radioactive decay might be the ultimate philosopher's stone. Later, the discovery of nuclear fission would become consciously connected into the same narrative, especially with optimistic hopes of energy "too cheap to meter" and great utopian cities of the future run on nuclear energy.
Within the philosophy system of Western alchemy (hermeticism), metal transmutations and the philosopher's stone are sometimes symbols for inner spiritual transformation of the alchemist. Thus, in some religious contexts the concept is as valid as ever, in a way.
虛構故事中的賢者之石
賢者之石出現在許多虛構故事中，如：
- en:Hans Christian Andersen, Philosopher's Stone (book).
- The Trumpeter of Krakow (1928) by Eric P. Kelly
- en:Carl Barks's en:Donald Duck comics story The Fabulous Philosopher's Stone (Disney comics). Walt Disney (1945), 24pp. Story code W US 10-02.
- 马克思◎麦考依, 印第安纳◎琼斯与贤者之石.
- en:Diana Wynne Jones' novel The Ogre Downstairs (1974)
- en:Paulo Coelho's novel The Alchemist (book)
- J·K·羅琳的小說《哈利波特─神秘的魔法石》 (1997) 及其電影版(2001)。
- 在网络游戏《魔兽世界》里,有个炼金术士用这石头作为改变金属和元素材料的媒介。
- 日本動漫作品鋼之鍊金術師(2003)中，愛力克兄弟尋找賢者之石以進行人體煉成。
- 日本動畫作品冒險少女娜汀亞(1990)所持之藍寶石的真面目。
- In the video game en:Valkyrie Profile, Lezard Valeth has possession of the Philosopher's Stone, referring to it as "the ten-billion-page codex."
- 在電玩《惡魔獵人（Devil May Cry）》中，賢者之石是進入冥界所需的第二把鑰匙。
- 在视频游戏《命运的阴影》中，贤者之石是关键道具en:Homunculus的来源.
- In Umberto Eco's novel Foucault's Pendulum a character asserts that the Philosopher's Stone is actually the mythical en:Holy Grail.
- In en:Neal Stephenson's en:Baroque Cycle, an unusually heavy sample of gold is believed to contain Philosopher's stone, perhaps because scientists of the 18th century were unaware of en:isotopes.
- In the en:Justice League episode "A Knight of Shadows" the Philosopher's Stone (a rock instead of a powder) is sought after and ultimately destroyed.
- 在GBA游戏《牧场物语》中，贤者之石是打造贤者工具的必要物品。
參見
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"賢者之石"