Jennifer M. Rampling

Jennifer M. Rampling is an Associate Professor of History at Princeton University and Director of Graduate Studies for the History of Science program. Her work centers on alchemy's intersections with natural philosophy, medicine, and culture in pre-modern Europe, with emphasis on England's alchemical traditions and experimental reconstruction of historical practices.

Her academic credentials include:

• Ph.D. in History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge (2010)
• MA in Renaissance Studies, University of London (2006)
• LL.B. Hons in Law, University of Hull (1996)

Professor Rampling's research examines textual authority and artisanal practice in alchemy, particularly through George Ripley's manuscripts and the Ripley Scrolls. She pioneers experimental historical methods via Princeton's PRISM initiative to recreate alchemical processes, bridging manuscript analysis with hands-on replication. Her scholarship spans intellectual history, visual culture, and the history of chemistry, revealing how alchemical knowledge circulated across European networks.

Analysis of her eight publications (2008-2014) reveals consistent focus on English alchemy's European context, manuscript transmission, and visual symbolism. Her work integrates art history, intellectual networks, and experimental reconstruction, with George Ripley and John Dee as central figures in understanding alchemy's scientific and cultural dimensions.

Her contributions have been honored with:

• Neu-Whitrow Bibliography Prize (2013) for cataloguing the Ripley Corpus
• Partington Prize (2008) for establishing Ripley's alchemical sources

She mentors graduate students including Megan Baumhammer and Jeremy Schneider, and has secured significant funding through a Wellcome Trust grant for "Medicine and the Making of English Alchemy, 1300–1700" and Princeton's Dean for Research Innovation Fund. As Editor of Ambix since 2013 and General Editor of "Sources of Alchemy and Chemistry," she shapes scholarship through editorial leadership and special journal issues on John Dee and alchemical peripheries.

Through PRISM, she leads experimental reconstructions of historical alchemical processes, collaborating across disciplines to decode manuscript instructions. Her "Through a Glass Darkly" exhibition showcased Ripley Scrolls from Princeton's Special Collections, demonstrating public engagement with her research on alchemical visual culture.