metallurgy notes from: http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab16

• metal most important to man
• no one knows how metallurgy started
• beginnings of metallurgy similar to discovery of fire
• think of life without metal
• around 6000 or 7000b.c.e. start of use of copper
• earliest found in Anatolia
• discovery of metal probably an acciedent
• copper found in azurite and malachite
• objects made from smelted copper in 3800B.C.E. in Iran
• huge copper deposits on Cyprus brought island great wealth in trade around 3000b.c.e.
• alloys may have also between an accident
• first know alloys are tin and copper for bronze
• first bronze used in Sumer at Ur in 2800 b.c.e.
• bronze spread to indus valley in 2500b.c.e
• bronze spread to west and central europe around 2000b.c.e
• up till this point bronze was mainly a weapon and luxury item
• chinese shang dynasty discovered bronze around 1500b.c.e
• iron comes next
• iron full of impurities
• must be smelted multiple times to separate impurities from iron metal
• iron used before 2000b.c.e but not widely used until 1500b.c.e
• Hitties in Anatolia first to use iron
• 11th century steel was discovered by super heating iron with charcoal or high carbon fuel and quickly cooling the iron
• 11th century starts iron age in middle east
• 1528degrees Celsius to melt iron
• 1300 degrees Celsius to melt tin and copper
• 513b.c.e. Chinese created first furnace hot enough to melt iron
• first European iron foundry built in england in 1161b.c.e
• 1709 Abraham Darby discovered that iron could be smelted with coke instead of charcoal
• 1779 first iron bridge constructed
• 1784 puddling discovered by Cort
• Cort made first rolling mill which became center of steel production industry