CHEMISTRY IN PREHISTORY AND ANTIQUITY - CHEMISTRY - 2025

The history of chemistry begins in prehistory, when humans first manipulated the elements for their benefit. The first chemical reaction that was used in a conscious and controlled way is considered to be fire.

Chemistry is the science of the elements, this means that it is in charge of studying the properties and chemical reactions of everything that surrounds us, as well as its composition. Chemistry is considered to be a stable science based on the law of conservation of mass, proposed by Antoine Lavoisier.

The history of chemistry is usually divided into four stages: black magic, which goes from prehistory to the beginning of the Christian era; alchemy, which ranges from the beginning of the Christian era to the seventeenth century; traditional chemistry, which goes from the 17th to the 19th century; and modern chemistry, which began in the mid-19th century and continues to this day.

Chemistry and the prehistoric human being

The discovery of fire allowed to carry out other chemical reactions that helped improve the way of life of the prehistoric being. In this sense, fire was used for cooking, to create more resistant clay pots and to transform metals.

During this period, the first steps towards metallurgy were taken, since rudimentary smelting furnaces were created to mold metals in order to produce weapons.

According to studies referring to prehistory, the first metal used was gold. This was followed by silver, copper and tin.

In the beginning, pure metals were used; however, between 3500 a. C. and 2500 a. C, prehistoric civilizations discovered that the union of copper and tin gave rise to a new metal: bronze. This means that the first alloys were made. It also used iron, which was extracted from meteorites.

However, during this period, metallurgy was not considered to be a chemical process. On the contrary, fire itself was considered a mystical force capable of transforming elements and, in many civilizations, metals were related to the gods; for example, in Babylon, gold was associated with the god Marduk.

Chemistry in ancient times

During ancient times, the cultures of Babylon, Egypt, and Greece flourished. In this period, very little was known about the elements that influenced natural processes.

The "spirits" were considered to be responsible for these changes and, in order to control these processes, certain practices were used that would have allowed them to persuade these spirits: black magic.

However, some ancient scholars made certain contributions that laid the foundations for the development of chemistry as the science we know today.

Chemistry in Babylon

In Babylon, approximately in the year 1700 a. C., King Hammurabi began to classify metals, such as gold, iron and copper. Similarly, he gave an economic value to each one, taking into account the properties and potential of the material.

Likewise, it is possible that lapis lazuli, a light blue, cubic gem, was developed in Babylon.

Chemistry and the Greeks

Theory of Atoms

About 2500 years ago, the Greeks considered that "everything was one", this meant that the universe and all the elements that made it up were a single huge entity.

However, around the year 430 BC. C., Democritus, pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, stated that all matter was composed of solid, small and indivisible objects that he called "atoms".

This philosopher also stated that changes in matter occurred when atoms were rearranged and reconnected; He also suggested that there was a great variety of atoms, with different shapes, sizes and masses.

It should be noted that Democritus considered shape, size, and mass to be the only properties that differentiated atoms; for him, characteristics such as flavor and color were the result of the combinations between these indivisible particles.

A simple experiment would have proven that Democritus's theory was largely correct; However, the Greeks did not believe in experimentation, since they considered that they could not trust their senses but rather logic and reason, in order to understand the world. It is for this reason that Democritus' theory of atoms, similar in many respects to today's theory of atoms, was rejected.

Democritus, Greek philosopher (470 BC - 380 BC)

Aristotle and the composition of matter

Other contributions from the Greeks came from Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC), the philosopher of Estagira, and Thales of Miletus. Like Democritus, these two philosophers speculated on the composition of matter, pointing out that air, water, earth, and fire were the basic elements that made up matter. Other Greek scholars spoke of a fifth element, which they called the "quintessence."

Also, Aristotle indicated that these basic elements were mixed in different proportions to give rise to different materials: cold, hot, dry and wet.

Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

End of black magic

Towards the end of Antiquity, the study of the properties of bronze, an alloy between tin and copper, led many to think that gold could be obtained through the combination of a yellow element and another strong element.

This belief that gold could be formed through the transmutation of matter marked the end of chemistry as black magic and gave rise to alchemy and its famous alchemists.

References

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