Historical background of materials

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Historical background of materials

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The Stone Age (pre-2500 BC)

• Hard/brittle materials used to make earthenware,
  tools and weapons.

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Stone Age tools

• One of the most important advancements in human
  history was the development and use of tools.
  Tools allowed hominids to become the masters of
  their environments, to hunt, to build, and to
  perform important tasks that made life easier for
  them. The first tools were made out of stone.
  Thus, historians refer to the period of time
  before written history as the stone age.

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Bronze Age hut

• The Bronze Age (? 2500 BC to 500 BC)

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Bronze Age tools

• Hard, tough material that is quite malleable.

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Iron Age hut

• The Iron Age (? 500 BC to 1850 AD)

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Iron Age tools

• These are hard, tough, ductile and cheap. They
  were used to make sophisticated tools, bridges,
  ships etc.

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Ironbridge in Shropshire

• The world's first cast iron bridge was built over
  the River Severn at Coalbrookdale in 1779. Not
  only iron founders and industrial spies flocked
  to see this wondrous bridge, but also artists and
  travellers. The Bridge had a far reaching impact
  on local society and the economy, on bridge
  design and on the use of cast iron in building.
  The story of the bridge's conservation begins in
  1784 with reports of cracks in the Southern
  abutments, and is brought up to date with the
  English Heritage sponsored work of 1999.

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Old Severn bridge

• 19th Century steel (an alloy of iron) became
  available. This had increased strength and lower
  brittleness. This allowed larger structures to be
  made.

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Carbon fibre used to make parts for some cars!

• 20th Century composite materials (synthetic) and
  plastics became available, which provided greater
  strength and flexibility together with a low
  density. These proved to be particularly useful
  in the aircraft and civil engineering industries.

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Molecular machine

• Future trends high temperature superconductors
  nanotechnology, which enables new materials to be
  synthesised at a molecular and atomic level
  advanced materials for electronic and photonic
  devices (e.g. optical computing) etc.

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Acknowledgements

• Slide 2 http//www.creswell-crags.org.uk/virtuall
  ytheiceage/Stone20Age20People/Assets/Cave_image.
  jpg
• Slide 3 http//www.kidspast.com/images/stone-age.
  jpg
• Slide 4 http//www.infobritain.co.uk/Bronze_Age_H
  ut.jpg
• Slide 5 http//www.sindelarmuseum.com/images/sind
  r3_0600001.jpg
• Slide 6 http//www.infobritain.co.uk/Flag_Fen_Iro
  n_Age_Hut.jpg
• Slide 7 http//www.huntingdonshire.info/history/i
  mages/Plate_II.png
• Slide 8 http//cache.virtualtourist.com/654750-Th
  e_Iron_Bridge_in_Iron_Bridge-Ironbridge.jpg
• Slide 9 http//www.freefoto.com/images/42/12/42_1
  2_3---The-Old-Severn-Bridge_web.jpg
• Slide 10 http//www.vicky.in/straightfrmtheheart/
  wp-content/uploads/2007/04/fer2007.jpg
• Slide 11 http//www.anthonares.net/molecular_mach
  ine.jpg
• PowerPoint slides compiled by John Mascall of The
  Kings School, Ely