From the start, George Starkey's career has been marked by controversy and uncertainty. Born in Bermuda and holder of BA and MA degrees from Harvard College, Starkey (or Stirk) practiced medicine for a time in America before relocating to London about 1650; there he became active in the scientific circle of Samuel Hartlib and an associate of Robert Boyle. At some point, probably before his arrival in England, he began to promote the work of a mysterious adept who wrote under the pseudonym “Eirenaeus Philalethes,” with whom Starkey is usually, but not universally, identified. He published prolifically under both names until the time of his death, which perhaps resulted from exposure during the Great Plague of London. Publications continued to be issued under his name even after his death, and his influence on the development of chemistry is reflected in positive references by both Boyle and Newton.

Starkey's orientation toward healing and the formulation of new medicines is Paracelsian and iatrochemical (he often styles himself a “Philosopher by Fire”), and he was thus deeply engaged in disputes that were part of the politics of medicine in the seventeenth century. For example, an argumentative edge is often present even in the titles of his works, as in Pyrotechny Asserted and Illustrated, to be the surest and safest means for Arts Triumph over Natures Infirmities (1658). In the Admirable Efficacy … of true Oyl, reprinted below, Starkey argues for his own special formulation of this chemical medicine, in opposition to the false claims of his competitors.