History of materials
111 inventos por año: de qué evolucionó cada uno y a qué llevó.
| Año | Invento | Qué es | Evolucionó de | Llevó a |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 400000 a. C. | Cuero | Hide treated by tanning. | ||
| 40000 a. C. | Tiza | Soft limestone for writing. | ||
| 30000 a. C. | Abrasivo | A hard material for grinding (corundum, carborundum). | ||
| 18000 a. C. | Cerámica | Objects made of fired clay. | Cacerola | |
| 9000 a. C. | Cobre | One of the first metals mastered by humans. | ||
| 6000 a. C. | Horno de cocción | A furnace for firing pottery, bricks and lime. | ||
| 5000 a. C. | Fundición de minerales | Extracting metal from ore by heating it with a reducing agent. | ||
| 4500 a. C. | Oro | A precious metal for jewellery and coins. | ||
| 4000 a. C. | Torno de alfarero | A spinning disc for shaping vessels; one of the first uses of rotation. | ||
| 3500 a. C. | Vidrio | An amorphous material made from molten silica. | ||
| 3300 a. C. | Bronce | An alloy of copper and tin that gave its name to an age. | ||
| 3300 a. C. | Estaño | A metal added to copper to make bronze. | ||
| 3300 a. C. | Aleación | A mixture of metals with new properties. | ||
| 3200 a. C. | Fundición | Making an object by pouring molten material into a mould. | ||
| 3000 a. C. | Plata | A precious metal, the best conductor. | ||
| 3000 a. C. | Soldadura | A low-melting alloy for joining parts. | ||
| 3000 a. C. | Betún | A viscous mixture of hydrocarbons. | ||
| 3000 a. C. | Sinterización | Compacting a powder by heating it below its melting point. | ||
| 1600 a. C. | Caucho natural | The sap of the rubber tree; balls among the Mesoamericans. | ||
| 1500 a. C. | Fuelle | A device for blowing air into a forge. | ||
| 1500 a. C. | Yunque | A massive support for forging. | ||
| 1500 a. C. | Mercury | A liquid metal; thermometers and barometers. | ||
| 1500 a. C. | Tenazas de herrero | Hinged tongs for holding red-hot metal. | ||
| 1500 a. C. | Fragua | A hearth for heating metal before forging. | ||
| 1200 a. C. | Hierro | The metal of the Iron Age; the basis of steel. | ||
| 1200 a. C. | Horno de reducción | A furnace for producing iron from ore without melting it. | Alto horno | |
| 700 a. C. | Trefilado | Pulling metal through a die. | ||
| 600 a. C. | Imán permanente | A material with stable magnetization. | Magnetita | |
| 600 a. C. | Magnetita | A naturally magnetic mineral. | Imán permanente | |
| 500 a. C. | Latón | An alloy of copper and zinc. | ||
| 500 a. C. | Hierro fundido | An iron alloy with a high carbon content. | ||
| 500 a. C. | Corcho | The bark of the cork oak. | ||
| 50 a. C. | Soplado de vidrio | Blowing objects from molten glass with a blowpipe. | ||
| 300 | Acero de Damasco | Patterned steel famous for the strength of its blades. | ||
| 600 | Porcelana | Fine ceramics made from kaolin (China; Meissen in 1708). | ||
| 600 | Caolín | A white clay for porcelain. | ||
| 1150 | Alto horno | A shaft furnace for smelting pig iron. | Horno de reducción | |
| 1565 | Grafito | A form of carbon; pencil leads, a moderator, a battery anode. | Grafeno | |
| 1590 | Laminadora | Rolls that squeeze metal into sheet and sections. | ||
| 1709 | Coque | Baked coal; Darby used it to smelt iron. | ||
| 1735 | Cobalto Georg Brandt | A metal in the cathodes of lithium-ion batteries. | ||
| 1746 | Zinc | A metal for brass, batteries and galvanizing. | ||
| 1748 | Platino Julius Caesar Scaliger, Antonio de Ulloa | A precious metal — a catalyst. | ||
| 1751 | Níquel Axel Fredrik Cronstedt | A metal for alloys and batteries. | ||
| 1783 | Tungsteno Juan José Elhuyar, Fausto Elhuyar | The most refractory metal; lamp filaments. | ||
| 1784 | Hierro forjado | Low-carbon iron (Cort). | ||
| 1784 | Pudelado Henry Cort, Samuel Baldwin Rogers | Converting pig iron into wrought iron in a reverberatory furnace. | ||
| 1789 | Uranio Эжен Пелиго, Martin Heinrich Klaproth | A heavy metal — nuclear fuel. | ||
| 1794 | Tierras raras | A group of elements for magnets, phosphors and catalysts. | ||
| 1797 | Extrusión | Pushing material through a die (Bramah). | ||
| 1797 | Cromo Louis Nicolas Vauquelin | A metal that makes steel resistant to corrosion. | ||
| 1817 | Litio Johan August Arfwedson | The lightest metal — the basis of lithium batteries. | ||
| 1821 | Bauxita | The ore of aluminium. | ||
| 1824 | Silicio Jöns Jacob Berzelius | A chemical element, the main material of microelectronics. | ||
| 1826 | Pulvimetalurgia | Sintering metal powders (Sobolevsky). | ||
| 1834 | Papel de lija | An abrasive on a paper backing. | ||
| 1837 | Galvanización | Coating steel with zinc against corrosion. | ||
| 1839 | Caucho vulcanizado Charles Goodyear | Natural rubber strengthened with sulfur (Charles Goodyear). | ||
| 1839 | Martillo pilón | A hammer with a steam cylinder (Nasmyth). | Martinete, Martillo | Prensa de forja |
| 1843 | Gutapercha | A natural polymer — the insulation of the first undersea cables. | ||
| 1855 | Cámara de aire | The rubber bladder of a ball or tyre (Goodyear). | ||
| 1856 | Acero | An alloy of iron and carbon; mass production came with the Bessemer process. | ||
| 1856 | Convertidor Bessemer Henry Bessemer | Blowing air through pig iron to make steel. | Horno Siemens-Martin | |
| 1860 | Cesio | An alkali metal; the transition frequency of the caesium-133 atom defines the second in atomic clocks. | ||
| 1861 | Prensa de forja | A hydraulic press for forging. | Martillo pilón | |
| 1865 | Horno Siemens-Martin | The Siemens–Martin regenerative furnace. | Convertidor Bessemer | |
| 1870 | Acería | A full cycle: blast furnace — steel — rolling. | ||
| 1874 | Semiconductor | A material whose conductivity can be controlled; the basis of the transistor. | ||
| 1881 | Soldadura | Joining metals permanently by melting them; Benardos’s arc welding. | ||
| 1886 | Aluminio Hans Christian Ørsted, Humphry Davy | A light metal; cheap production came with the Hall–Héroult process. | ||
| 1886 | Germanio Clemens Winkler | The semiconductor of the first transistors. | ||
| 1888 | Cristales líquidos | Substances that rotate the polarization of light in an electric field. | ||
| 1898 | Acero rápido | Steel for cutting tools (Taylor, White). | ||
| 1903 | Soldadura a gas | An oxy-acetylene flame. | ||
| 1903 | Ferrocerio Carl Auer von Welsbach | An alloy that sparks when struck (Auer von Welsbach). | ||
| 1905 | Nicromo | A nickel–chromium alloy with high resistance and resistance to oxidation. | ||
| 1907 | Horno de arco eléctrico Carl Wilhelm Siemens | Melting steel with an electric arc (Héroult). | ||
| 1909 | Duraluminio Alfred Wilm | A strong aluminium alloy for aviation (Wilm). | ||
| 1910 | Titanio William Gregor, Martin Heinrich Klaproth | A strong, light metal for aviation and medicine. | ||
| 1913 | Acero inoxidable Harry Brearley | Steel with chromium that does not rust (Brearley). | ||
| 1916 | Método Czochralski | Growing a single crystal from a melt. | ||
| 1926 | Carburo cementado | Tungsten carbide with cobalt (Widia). | ||
| 1926 | Arseniuro de galio | The semiconductor of laser diodes and microwave circuits. | ||
| 1936 | Fibra de vidrio | A composite of glass fibre and resin. | ||
| 1945 | Material absorbente de radar | A coating that absorbs radio waves. | ||
| 1946 | Cinturón de acero | Steel cord in a tyre’s belt. | ||
| 1950 | Dopaje de semiconductores | Adding impurities to create p- and n-regions. | ||
| 1950 | Colada continua | Casting billets in a continuous stream. | ||
| 1957 | Corte por plasma | Cutting metal with a plasma arc. | ||
| 1958 | Fibra de carbono | A super-strong, light fibre made of carbon. | ||
| 1959 | Vidrio flotado | Sheet glass made on molten tin (Pilkington). | ||
| 1962 | Vidrio reforzado | Glass strengthened by ion exchange (Corning). | ||
| 1965 | Corte láser | Cutting materials with a laser. | ||
| 1969 | Nitruro de galio | The semiconductor of blue LEDs and power electronics. | ||
| 1970 | Corte por chorro de agua | Cutting with a jet of water and abrasive. | ||
| 1981 | Puntos cuánticos Alexey Ekimov, Louis E. Brus | Nanocrystals that glow in a set colour (Ekimov). | ||
| 1982 | Imán de neodimio | The strongest permanent magnet (Sagawa). | ||
| 2004 | Grafeno Andre Geim, Konstantin Novoselov | Single-layer carbon (Geim, Novoselov). | Grafito | |
| 2007 | Cubierta de vidrio | Chemically strengthened glass on top of the screen. | ||
| Madera | The oldest structural material: it made handles, boats, wheels, looms and buildings. | |||
| Piedra | Rock as a material for tools, millstones, walls and monuments. | |||
| Arcilla | A plastic rock that hardens when fired. | |||
| Hueso | Animal bone and horn — the material of needles, harpoons, flutes and ornaments. | |||
| Fibra vegetal | Fibres of bast, grass and leaves, twisted into threads and ropes and woven into baskets. | |||
| Sílice | Silicon dioxide — the raw material of glass. | |||
| Sílex | A hard rock with a sharp fracture; the main material of stone tools. | |||
| Lengüeta | The hollow stem of water plants for baskets, boats, pipes and writing pens. | |||
| Tendón | Strong fibres of animal tendons: bowstrings, bindings, torsion springs. | |||
| Sebo | Rendered animal fat — the fuel of the first lamps and candles. | |||
| Diamante | A super-hard form of carbon; synthetic since 1954. | |||
| Cera de abejas | Wax from honeycomb for candles, lost-wax casting and waterproofing. |