Nicholas Flamel and the Philosopher's Stone
From my Teachable Moments file...
In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
, Nicholas Flamel is the creator of the "Philosopher's Stone" which allows its owner to live forever. (In the United Staes, that book was titled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
, the publishers, no doubt, believing that the whiff of philosophy would chase away young readers.)
Mr. Potter is fictional, but Nicolas Flamel lived during the late 14th and early 15th centuries in France. A scholar and scribe, Flamel did devote his life to trying to understand a mysterious book filled with encoded alchemical symbols that some believed held the secrets of the Philosopher's Stone. Some people believed that Flamel actually did create such a stone - though his death in 1417 made that harder to believe. He would be 666 years old now.
The incredible interest that young readers have shown for the Harry Potter series (adults too - I am a big fan of the books) is just the kind of open door that should have teachers taking students inside the real world of the books. The appearance of a new movie in the series this year will rekindle that interest.
Nicolas Flamel was a successful scrivener and manuscript-seller who developed a posthumous reputation as an alchemist. An alchemical book, published in Paris in 1612 as Livre des figures hieroglypiques and in London in 1624 as Exposition of the Hieroglyphicall Figures was attributed to Flamel.
The publisher of that book said in the introduction that Flamel had made it his life's work to understand the text of a mysterious 21-page book he had purchased. It may have been a copy of the original Book of Abraham the Mage. (Is this starting to sound like the plot of a Dan Brown
novel?) The myth surrounding him is that he succeeded at making the Philosopher's Stone (which also turns lead into gold) and that he and his wife achieved immortality. You can visit Flamel's house which is now the oldest house in Paris.
Michael Scott has written a young adult novel, The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel
. Though it runs about 375 pages, it is available for a limited time free from Powell's web site in a pdf version, and, of course, you can buy a copy in the format that Flamel would have actually used himself - magical paper.
And you can point students to many sites online with information about the real side of the books they love.
For example, on the U.S. National Library of Medicine website (sounds like actual research!) there is information on Magic and Medicine in Harry Potter that includes Flamel and other historical figures. Maybe the next time you send them to the site it will be for a science or history assignment.
In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Nicholas Flamel is the creator of the "Philosopher's Stone" which allows its owner to live forever. (In the United Staes, that book was titled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the publishers, no doubt, believing that the whiff of philosophy would chase away young readers.) Mr. Potter is fictional, but Nicolas Flamel lived during the late 14th and early 15th centuries in France. A scholar and scribe, Flamel did devote his life to trying to understand a mysterious book filled with encoded alchemical symbols that some believed held the secrets of the Philosopher's Stone. Some people believed that Flamel actually did create such a stone - though his death in 1417 made that harder to believe. He would be 666 years old now.
The incredible interest that young readers have shown for the Harry Potter series (adults too - I am a big fan of the books) is just the kind of open door that should have teachers taking students inside the real world of the books. The appearance of a new movie in the series this year will rekindle that interest.
Nicolas Flamel was a successful scrivener and manuscript-seller who developed a posthumous reputation as an alchemist. An alchemical book, published in Paris in 1612 as Livre des figures hieroglypiques and in London in 1624 as Exposition of the Hieroglyphicall Figures was attributed to Flamel.
novel?) The myth surrounding him is that he succeeded at making the Philosopher's Stone (which also turns lead into gold) and that he and his wife achieved immortality. You can visit Flamel's house which is now the oldest house in Paris. Michael Scott has written a young adult novel, The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel
. Though it runs about 375 pages, it is available for a limited time free from Powell's web site in a pdf version, and, of course, you can buy a copy in the format that Flamel would have actually used himself - magical paper.And you can point students to many sites online with information about the real side of the books they love.
For example, on the U.S. National Library of Medicine website (sounds like actual research!) there is information on Magic and Medicine in Harry Potter that includes Flamel and other historical figures. Maybe the next time you send them to the site it will be for a science or history assignment.
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