"Beccher's] Physica subterranea and... Oedipus chemicus... are... extraordinary productions. They display the efforts of a vigorous mind, the conceptions of a most fertile imagination, but the conclusions are too rapidly formed; there is a want of logical precision in his reasonings; the objects he attempted were grand, but his means of execution comparatively feeble. He endeavoured to raise a perfect and lasting edifice upon foundations too weak, from materials too scanty and not sufficiently solid; and the work, though magnificent in design, was rude unfinished and feeble, and rapidly fell into decay."
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Some sources: Oedipus chimicus (1664); Physica subterranea (1703, 1738)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Historical_View_of_the_Progress_of_Chemistry
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Historical View of the Progress of Chemistry
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