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Modern Alchemy Mystery Cache

Hidden : 10/22/2014
Difficulty:
4 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:


The posted coordinates will NOT lead you to the cache, but they do mark UGA's chemistry department.

And chemistry has run through a long and fascinating history from its roots in the esoteric traditions of alchemy! As hidden knowledge of the elements made its way from the Islamic world to Europe, alchemy thrived. These early chemists sought to transmute the baser metals into gold and discover an elixir of life--goals closely tied to a more spiritual desire for perfection. In this pursuit, the modern scientific method was developed and our understanding of the nature of the world slowly grew. Today we see that all matter is made up of atoms, each element with its own unique properties, and even the composition of air, invisible and ubiquitous, is broken up neatly into percentages. Of course, great mysteries remain, and the spiritual descendants of the alchemists are hard at work today.

Some of their notes remain hidden to this day . . . The alchemist of present interest must have had a knowledge of the elements too anachronistic to be held by his medieval contemporaries. This is where a modern understanding of the elements must come in. But such findings are jealously guarded . . . they must be around here someplace . . .

Oh, one more thing! Sometimes one alchemist's "potassium" resembles another alchemist's "potash". And if we're being specific about it, "muriate of potash".



You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Gur pnpur vf uvqqra ol n pregnva ryrzrag.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)