The German chemist Hermann Kopp is considered one of the first historians of chemistry. In his volume "Alchemy in Older and Newer Times," he describes the historical development and significance of chemistry. One goal of the early alchemists was the transformation of base metals into gold and silver. In addition to belief and theory, careful handling of distillation, extraction, and sublimation apparatus was an important prerequisite for the practical aspect of this transformation. This marks the beginning of modern chemistry. In the second part, Kopp addresses the development of alchemy from the end of the 18th century onwards. This book is a reprint of the long-out-of-print original edition from 1886.