Category Science

               The story of iron’s origins is astronomical; with the element being born from the explosion of stars. In Egypt, they called it the metal from heaven. The Bronze Age ended with the beginning of the Iron Age in 1500 BC, about the time the Hittites may have started working with iron, and discovered a way of smelting iron from local ores. Around 600 BC, cast iron was made by the Chinese by melting iron containing phosphorous.

             In the West, the first cast iron was a 14th century material. When fired with charcoal, the iron absorbed a significant amount of carbon, which lowered its melting point. Cast iron cannons and medieval iron changed the face of warfare.

              In Britain, the iron from furnaces was known as pig iron, as it was a mass of iron roughly resembling the shape of a reclining pig. However, pig iron was too brittle for most heavy industrial uses.

               It was the people from the south-eastern part of Turkey who discovered copper for the first time, more than 9000 years ago. They found that copper could be obtained from the shiny rocks of the region. However, copper’s name comes from Cyprus, which supplied much of the metal to the ancient world.

               Though copper was a popular metal its value was noted only since the 17th century, when it was realized that the metal is a great conductor of heat. Later, in the 19th century, copper was proved to be the second best conductor of electricity after silver.

               Use of the metal bronze became widespread in Europe during the Bronze Age, around 2000 BC. Bronze was made by heating the metals tin and copper, and mixing them together. Bronze objects are highly resistant to decay, and are still found in many ancient sites around the world.

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               Since the Stone Age, people started using wedges to raise boulders far enough to insert levers. Quarrymen in Egypt later started using wedges made of bronze and wood to split rocks and huge stones.

               The axes used by homo erectus used a principle similar to that of the wedge. Later, axe heads made of stone were attached to wooden handles to make more effective tools.

               Archimedes described screws in the 3rd century BC, when he mentioned that they were used for pumping. They were made of wood. The Greeks and Romans employed the screw to press grapes and olives.

               Man started using things similar to levers to lift and move heavy things since the Stone Age. In the 3rd century BC, the Greek mathematician Archimedes explained how levers worked.

               During the early days, for the construction of their many great buildings, the Greeks used something called a winch to raise heavy things. A winch was kind of like a combination of a roller and a lever.

               It is believed that the Egyptians were the first people to use something similar to the modern-day pulley. Though not exactly a pulley, they used to run ropes over smooth timbers to alter the direction of movement while raising heavy stones.

               Compound pulleys were described before AC 100 by the Greek scholar Hero of Alexandria. A compound pulley is fixed and movable hence forms a block and tackle, which can have several pulleys mounted or the fixed and moving axles, thereby increasing the amount of force.

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               The invention of the wheel must be the most iconic invention of all time, as it paved the way for so much development in the world.

               The first form of the wheel was made during the late Neolithic. Early wheels were simple wooden disks with a hole for the axle. However, the first wheel closer in appearance to the modern day one, was made in Sumeria around 3500 BC.

               Researchers have found that almost during the same period of time in Uruk in Mesopotamia, sledges were attached to four wheels to use in different terrains. The evolution of the modern day wheel was a very slow process. In 200 BC, in North Africa, wheels with teeth or cogs around their edges were used to pull water from wells.

               In the 4th century BC, the Greek philosopher Aristotle mentioned something similar to gears, when he designed devices for various construction jobs.

               Ever since mankind understood the necessity of keeping their valuables safe, they started finding ways to protect such personal belongings. Initially, men used to wrap such valuables in fabric to keep them inside their clothing. By the early 13th century, this fabric enclosure method had paved the way for creating pouches, bags and purses made of leather, fur or cloth. After the introduction of briefcases in the market, purses were used only to carry coins, and bags and pouches to carry other casual things.

               It was in the 1850s that a modern day leather handbag was first made. Shoulder bags were first introduced for women in the forces, during the Second World War.