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Chemistry is one of the most important fields of science in modern life. It gives us plastics to mass-produce everyday products, medicine to keep us healthy, and fuel to power our cars and houses, just to name a few. But where did it all come from? The basics of chemistry can be traced all throughout human history! From fermentation to fulmination, chemistry has been integral to human advancement for much longer than just the modern era.
Believe it or not, the earliest chemists lived nearly 400,000 years ago! The first time humans used and studied a chemical reaction for our benefit was the cultivation of fire. Fire, while great on its own, was used to start making glass and metal products at around 8000 BCE. Without chemists, we would have no Bronze, Copper, or Iron Age. Scientists have also uncovered the world's oldest chemistry lab, a 100,000-year-old cave where people mixed ochre, bone, and charcoal with grindstones and hammers. The use of this product is unknown but it was most likely used for sun protection or decorative purposes.
As we look later in history, we start to see the basic ideas of modern Chemistry form. Ancient cultures from Greece, China, India, and the Middle East each practiced their own form of rudimentary chemistry, now more commonly referred to by the blanket term ¨alchemy.¨ Alchemy blended scientific observations with philosophy and sometimes religion or spirituality. During this time period, the Greek philosopher Empedocles created the foundation for the theory of conservation of mass, and the philosopher Democritus created the first model of the atom. Ancient China and India invented methods to produce potassium nitrite (more commonly known as saltpeter), a chemical used for medicine that would later be used as a key ingredient in gunpowder. A consistent theme in ancient alchemy is attempting to turn ¨lesser¨ metals like lead and iron into ¨pure¨ metals like gold and silver. While they weren't successful, their attempts furthered our understanding of those elements and would later inspire chemist Ernest Rutherford in his documentation of nuclear transmutation, a process that uses radiation to change one element into another.
Although it has certainly changed throughout human history, the study of the chemical reactions around us is as old as human curiosity. From the first manipulation of fire to the use of nuclear power, chemistry has paved the way for human invention for hundreds of thousands of years. So the next time you drive a car, or turn on a light, or drink from a glass, remember that it was nearly one million years in the making.
About the Author
Jacob is a Junior at Northwood High School who enjoys playing the saxophone and learning new things. He hopes to study to become a particle physicist after graduation.
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