History Of Metallurgy
Metallurgy in essence started way before it was formally named as such and became a discipline. During the Stone Age, hunters already applied metallurgy for making weapons. Although, the process of honing metals was very crude and modest. Evidences of the earliest practices of metallurgy can be traced in the 5th and 6th millennium BC in Serbia. Ancient copper smelting sites are traced back to the 7000 BC throughout the Copper Age. The earliest miners were known to mine copper. Mining shafts are discovered within the Balkans and the Sinai Peninsula and are used to mine copper.
Early cultures already have metal processing but the technology of metallurgy formally began within the Bronze Age (3500 BC). This period, copper and tin were heated and combined to create bronze alloy. Iron was developed in later periods throughout the Iron Age in 1200 BC. The Hittites started the extraction of the metal and was further utilized by the Philistines. It took quite a long time before iron was developed and honed since it was then very difficult to extract. Other areas of the world also have their version of early modest metallurgy. The processes of honing metals are just the same but found its uses in a variety of functions.
In the 16th Century, Georg Agricola, the father of metallurgy, wrote a book De re metallica, which defined and described metal extraction and it is process. The term metallurgy is derived from the Greek “matallourgos” or worker in metal. The phrase metallurgy was widely used by alchemists within the 1500s to refer to the extraction of metals from minerals.
Today, there are various metalworking processes developed. These include casting or even the process of pouring molten metal into a mold. There are various types of casting including sand casting, continuous casting, die casting and investment casting. Another process, forging, requires the hammering of metals in to the desired shape. Metal working processes also include fabrication, sintering, extrusion, rolling, flow forming, machining and laser cladding.
We are able to enjoy metal in various forms and uses because of the discoveries of early men and women. Today metallurgy is already a practice along with a part of the academe. Check out more at http://historyofmetallurgy.com/.
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