Volume IV · 11 landmarks

Chemicals

Matter rewritten — metals, dyes, fertilizers, plastics, medicines.

1. 

   c. 3300 BCEBronze smeltingCopper melts.

2. 

   c. 1200 BCE (iron); 1856 (Bessemer steel)Iron and steelIron ore is common; useful iron is not.

3. 

   c. 8th–9th century (mature stills)DistillationHeat a mixture, catch the vapor, cool it back to liquid.

4. 

   c. 9th centuryGunpowderAlchemists in Tang China mixed saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur and found a powder that burned too fast to be a medicine.

5. 

   1856Bessemer converterBefore Bessemer, steel was made in small crucibles.

6. 

   1856Synthetic dye (mauveine)Perkin, 18, was trying to make quinine from coal tar and got a purple stain instead.

7. 

   1907BakeliteBaekeland reacted phenol and formaldehyde into a resin that would not melt once it had set.

8. 

   1909 (Haber); 1913 (Bosch industrial)Haber–Bosch ammoniaPlants need nitrogen.

9. 

   1940s (industrial fermentation)Penicillin productionFleming saw a mold kill bacteria in a dish in 1928.

10. 

    1975 (U.S. auto mandate era)Catalytic converterA honeycomb of ceramic, coated with precious metals, sits in the exhaust and turns carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides into less harmful gases.

11. 

    1991 (Sony commercial cell)Lithium-ion batteryLithium is light and eager to shed an electron.