3The Emerald Tablet of Hermes, Also known as The Smaragdine Table, or Tabula Smaragdina by Hermes Trismegistus - Alchemy is an influential tradition whose practitioners have, from antiquity, claimed it to be the precursor to profound powers. As described by Paul-Jacques Malouin in The Encyclopedia of Diderot, it is the chemistry of the subtlest kind which allows one to observe extraordinary chemical operations at a more rapid pace - operations that require a long time for nature to produce. Definitions of the objectives of alchemy are varied but historically have typically included one or more of the following goals: the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone; the ability to transmute base metals into the noble metals (gold or silver); and development of an elixir of life, which would confer youth and longevity. The Emerald Tablet, also known as the Smaragdine Table, or Tabula Smaragdina, is a compact and cryptic piece of Hermetica reputed to contain the secret of the prima materia and its transmutation. It was highly regarded by European alchemists as the foundation of their art and its Hermetic tradition. The original source of the Emerald Tablet is unknown. Although Hermes Trismegistus is the author named in the text, its first known appearance is in a book written in Arabic between the sixth and eighth centuries. The text was first translated into Latin in the twelfth century. Numerous translations, interpretations and commentaries followed. The layers of meaning in the Emerald Tablet have been associated with the creation of the philosopher's stone, laboratory experimentation, phase transition, the alchemical magnum opus, the ancient, classical, element system, and the correspondence between macrocosm and microcosm.