I don't like it when they dumb down things for an American audience. The UK version has philosopher's stone. BTW, here's an essay on that (philosopher's stone)
http://www.quackgrass.com/stone.html
That's why I refer to the book as "Philosopher's Stone" and only read my British copy.
Will check that essay out... one of the more interesting takes on the Philosopher's Stone lately was a story in which it was made out of people...