Human knowledge of the conversion of grape must into wine and of cereal dough into bread is as old as agriculture. This book is a study of the ways this phenomenon (fermentation) has been considered since Aristotle to be analogous to natural processes such as human digestion. During 1200-1600 A.D., alchemists wrote "ferments" or "elixirs" that could turn lead into gold. A century later, in Newton's time, many physicians and natural philosophers considered fermentation to be an important natural process. The 18th century was marked by Lavoisier's celebrated experiment on alcoholic...