The Alchemist is a historical novel set at the end of the 16th century. A talented young chemist with a thirst for wisdom becomes a member of the Hermetic Lodge. The Inquisition declares him and his comrades heretics. The hero's life is completely turned upside down by his meeting with Hypatia - like him, a seeker of truth, but he is forced to leave her in order to save them both. Adventures take him to India and Egypt, and in the end he meets the great teacher Giordano Bruno, who initiated him into the mysteries of transmutation. He knows that he must return and share the knowledge he has gained, but how can he do this without endangering his life or the lives of those he loves?.. The novel "The Alchemist" is not only an exciting story; the seeking reader will be able to learn a lot from it about the secrets of the now lost science of alchemy and about those who practiced it.