The 10 greatest innovations in the history of world materials

4,200 scientific and building materials experts from 68 countries attended the March 2007 Orlando Convention (Florida) Exhibition to vote on the inventions of the greatest materials in the calendar. Human history.

As a result, the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements prepared by Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869 was chosen as the greatest invention in the history of new materials.

1. Mendeleev periodic table:

This is a method of listing chemical elements into tables. The elements are arranged according to the electron structure. Since the electron structure is the determinant of the chemical properties of elements, this arrangement creates a steady change of chemical properties in rows and columns.

Each element is listed by the number of atoms and the chemical symbol. The standard periodic table shows the most basic data. Based on this periodic version, scientists have attempted to synthesize new materials.

Dmitri Mendeleev . (Photo: HCHP)

2. Smelting iron

Around 3500 BC, Egyptian metal houses first poured a small amount of iron for decorative purposes on major occasions.

3. Transitor

In 1948, three scientists John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain and William Shockley created transistors. It becomes the link for all modern electronic devices, the platform for chips and computer technology.

4. Making glass

Around 2200 BC, northwestern Iranians made glass. It became the second largest non-metallic construction material in history (after pottery).

5. Optical microscope

In 1668, Anton van Leeuwenhoek invented an optical microscope, with a magnification of 200 times. Thanks to this invention one can study the natural world that cannot be seen with the naked eye.

6. Concrete

After the microscope, in 1755 John Smeaton built modern concrete (hard cement in the country). Concrete became the main construction material of modern civilization, materials that changed the construction methods that appeared from the middle of the 18th century.

7. Cook steel

Around 300 BC, workers in southern India developed a way to cook steel called 'wootz'. Hundreds of years later, this method was called the Damascus method and was a great secret for industrialists and metallurgists.

8. Extraction and casting of copper

Around 5000 BC, the Turkish people discovered that it was possible to extract liquid copper from malachite and azurite minerals, and molten metals that could be molded into different shapes. Since then, the mining industry was born.

9. X-ray diffraction

In 1912, Max von Laue discovered the X-ray diffraction by crystals. It facilitates the description of crystal structures and lays the foundation for the development of research on crystalline materials.

10. Besseme method

In 1856 Henry Besseme received a patent for low carbon steel cooking. It lays the foundation for mass production of cheap steel and so people can develop transportation, construction and industrialization.

TRAN DUC THANH