To turn lead into gold, and to create the philosopher's stone.
(sry for spelling) Chinese alchemists were looking for the secret to immortality for there emperor but they failed every time and the person who failed was sentence to death they be lived that to get to this goal they needed a philoshper stone European alchemists were diff rent thought they did not want immortality they wanted to be able to change rocks,silver,copper,etc in to gold so that they would have an endless supply
To turn lead into gold, and to create the philosopher's stone.
The goal was more psychological than spiritual. The alchemists were attempting to cure the "darkness of midlife". The psychologist Carl Jung studied the work of the alchemists for decades, and believed that hidden within their writings, were psychological explanations for their work.
European alchemists were trying to discover the Philosopher's Stone, believed to have the power to turn base metals into gold, grant immortality, and provide enlightenment. They also sought to create the Elixir of Life, a potion thought to confer eternal youth and health.
The goal of alchemists in Europe was to transform base metals into gold, find a universal cure for diseases (the philosopher's stone), and attain spiritual enlightenment through the transformation of the self. They believed in the idea of transmutation and were also interested in achieving immortality.
Alchemists study and practice Alchemy which is considered a protoscience. While Alchemists are real people with a real purpose, the field they practice has not been proven real, as yet, by scientific protocol. Using a loose definition, you could call chemists modern alchemists. But there were real alchemists who's main goal was to change one substance into another, usually this a cheap metal, like lead, into gold. Though the methods were primitive, the concepts are considered important work towards modern chemistry.
Reducing the size of government is not a goal of European liberals. Most European liberals want the entire population to rely on the government.
Alchemists were not successful in turning metal into gold because they lacked a scientific understanding of chemistry and the atomic structure of elements. The goal of transmuting base metals into gold was based on mystical beliefs and symbolism rather than empirical evidence or experimentation. Additionally, the technology and tools available to alchemists at the time were not advanced enough to achieve such a transformation.
Cerium was not known by alchemists.
The alchemists were unaware that atoms even existed.
The Alchemists mostly wanted to find a means by which lead could be transformed into gold.
Most of the strongest Alchemists appear to be men.