Talk:Valerius Cordus

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I just added a tag to the claim:
 * It has been suggested that he may have learned the method from Portuguese explorers who brought the knowledge from the Middle East

Obviously these are weasel words, but also quite dubious: no other reference I can find mentions any earlier knowledge of ether (other than the discredited references to Ramon Llull); both sulfuric acid and distilled ethanol had been known in Europe for centuries before Cordus's discovery, so there is no reason to imagine outside assistance was required; and at the time he was at the University of Halle-Wittenberg which is about as far from Portuguese explorers as he could get without leaving Europe. -- 202.63.39.58 (talk) 08:06, 21 August 2009 (UTC)