Composition and technology of ancient materials. The project "chemicals in architecture" How many and what monuments to chemicals are known

"Blue storerooms" of oceans and seas store practically inexhaustible reserves of many chemical elements. So, in one cubic meter of water in the World Ocean contains on average about four kilograms of magnesium. In total, more than 6 · 10 16 tons of this element are dissolved in the waters of our planet.

To show how tremendous this value is, let us give the following example. Since the beginning of the new chronology, humanity has lived only a little more than 60 billion (ie 6 · 10 10) seconds. This means that if from the very first days of our era people began to extract magnesium from seawater, then in order to exhaust all water reserves of this element by now, it would be necessary to extract a million tons of magnesium every second!

As you can see, Neptune can be calm about his wealth.

How much nickel is there on earth?

The earth's crust contains approximately 10-15 tons of nickel. Is it a lot? Will there be enough nickel to, say, nickel our entire planet (including the surface of the World Ocean)?

A simple calculation shows that not only will it be enough, but will also remain for about ... 20 thousand of the same "balls".

Cast "kings"

Who does not know the masterpieces of foundry art located on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin: "Tsar Bell" and "Tsar Cannon". But probably few know about other cast "kings".

More than a thousand years ago, a cast-iron "lion king" about six meters high and weighing almost 100 tons was cast in China. A cart with horses could pass between the legs of this huge statue.

One of the most ancient "ancestors" of the Moscow "Tsar Bell" is the Korean 48-ton bell, cast in 770. Its sound is extraordinarily beautiful. According to legend, the daughter of the master, in order to save her father from numerous failures in smelting metal, threw herself into the molten metal, and her death cry froze in it.

A new exhibit has recently appeared in the Museum of the History of the Peoples of Uzbekistan - a huge cast-iron cauldron discovered during excavations of a mound near Tashkent. The diameter of this cauldron, cast by ancient craftsmen, is about one and a half meters, its weight is half a ton. Apparently, the "tsar-cauldron" served in ancient times a whole army: from it it was possible to feed almost five thousand people at once.

A unique casting weighing 600 tons - a cast iron shabot (base) for the most powerful hammer at that time - was made in Russia in 1875. To cast this giant shabot, a huge foundry was built at the Motovilikhinsky plant in Perm. Twenty cupolas continuously melted the metal for 120 hours. The shabot cooled down for three months, then it was removed from the mold and, using only levers and blocks, was moved to the location of the hammer.

Steel bridge - 200 years old

In England there is the city of Ironbridge, which means "Steel Bridge" in Russian. The city owes its name to the steel bridge over the Severn, which was built two hundred years ago. This bridge is the firstborn of the steel industry, not only in England, but throughout the world. Ironbridge is also home to other British industrial landmarks of the past. The specialized museum contains many exhibits on the history of technology, demonstrating the successes of English metallurgy in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Long before Pithecanthropus?

According to modern concepts, a person got acquainted with metals (copper, gold, iron) only a few thousand years ago. And before on our planet for almost two million years, stone reigned supreme as the main material for the manufacture of tools and weapons.

However, historians are sometimes faced with the mention of amazing facts that (if only they are reliable!) Indicate that our civilization may have had predecessors who reached a high level of material culture.

In the literature, for example, there is a message that allegedly in the 16th century the Spaniards, who set foot on the lands of South America, found an iron nail about 20 centimeters long in the silver mines of Peru. This find would hardly have aroused interest, if not for one circumstance: most of the nail was densely cemented in a piece of rock, and this could mean that it had lain in the bowels of the earth for many tens of millennia. At one time, an unusual nail was allegedly kept in the office of the Viceroy of Peru, Francisco de Toledo, who usually showed it to his guests.

Other similar finds are also known. Thus, in Australia, an iron meteorite with traces of processing was discovered in coal seams dating back to the Tertiary period. But who processed it in the Tertiary period, tens of millions of years distant from our time? Indeed, even such ancient fossil human ancestors as Pithecanthropus lived much later - only some 500 thousand years ago.

About a metal object found in the thickness of coal in the mines of Scotland, wrote the journal "Messages of the Scottish Society of Ancient History". Another similar find also has a "miner's" origin: we are talking about a gold chain, allegedly discovered in 1891 in coal beds. Only nature itself is capable of "enclosing" it in a piece of coal, and this could have happened in those distant times when coal was being formed.

Where are these objects - a nail, a meteorite, a chain? After all, modern methods of analyzing materials would allow at least to some extent to shed light on their nature and age, and therefore, to reveal their secret.

Unfortunately, nobody knows this today. And were they really?

Alloy for standards

On July 14, 1789, the insurgent people of France took the Bastille by storm, and the Great French Revolution began. Along with many decrees and decrees of a political, social, economic nature, the revolutionary government decided to introduce a clear metric system of measures. At the suggestion of the commission, which included reputable scientists, one ten-millionth part of a quarter of the length of the Paris geographic meridian was adopted as a unit of length - a meter. For five years, the largest French experts in the field of astronomy and geodesy meticulously measured the arc of the meridian from Dunkirk to Barcelona. In 1797, the calculations were completed, and two years later the first standard of the meter was made - a platinum ruler, called the "archive meter" or "archive meter". The unit of mass - kilogram - was the mass of one cubic decimeter of water (at 4 ° C) taken from the Seine. The platinum cylindrical weight has become the standard of the kilogram.

Over the years, however, it turned out that the natural prototypes of these standards - the Parisian meridian and the waters from the Seine - are not very convenient for reproduction, and besides, they are not distinguished by approximate constancy. Scientists-metrologists considered such "sins" unforgivable. In 1872, the International Metric Commission decided to abandon the services of a natural prototype of length: this honorable role was entrusted to the "archival meter", according to which 31 standards were made in the form of bars, but not from pure platinum, but from its alloy with iridium (10%). After 17 years, a similar fate befell the water from the Seine: a weight made of the same platinum-iridium alloy was approved as the prototype of the kilogram, and 40 of its exact copies became international standards.

Over the past century "in the kingdom of weights and measures" there have been some changes: the "archival meter" was forced to retire (the standard of the meter was the length equal to 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the orange radiation of the 86 Kr krypton isotope). But the "most important in the world" kilogram of platinum-iridium alloy is still in service.

Indium breaks through the fog

The rare metal indium played an important role in ... defending London from massive German air raids during World War II. Due to the extremely high reflectivity of indium, mirrors made from it made it possible for air defense searchlights in search of air pirates to easily "pierce" with powerful beams the dense fog that often envelops the British Isles. Since indium belongs to low-melting metals, during the operation of the searchlight, the mirror constantly needed cooling, but the British military department willingly went to additional costs, with satisfaction counting the number of downed enemy aircraft.

Forty years later

In the spring of 1942, the British cruiser Edinburgh departed from Murmansk, accompanied by a convoy, with more than five tons of gold on board — the USSR paid its allies for military supplies.

However, the cruiser did not arrive at the port of destination: it was attacked by fascist submarines and destroyers, which inflicted serious damage on it. And although the cruiser could still remain afloat, the command of the British convoy decided to sink the ship so that the most valuable cargo would not fall on the enemy.

A few years after the end of the war, the idea was born - to extract gold from the wreck of a sunken ship. But it took more than one decade before the idea came true.

In April 1981, an agreement was reached between the USSR and Great Britain on the lifting of the gold cargo, and soon the British company, with which the corresponding contract was signed, began work. A specially equipped rescue ship Stefaniturm arrived at the site of the Edinburgh sinking.

To combat the sea element, the company attracted experienced and courageous divers different countries... The difficulties lay not only in the fact that the gold rested under a 260-meter water column and a layer of silt, but also in the fact that next to it there was a compartment with ammunition, ready to explode at any moment.

The days passed. Replacing each other, the divers, step by step, cleared the way for the gold bars, and finally, late in the evening of September 16, a diver from Zimbabwe, John Rose, raised a heavy black bar to the surface.

When his colleagues wiped off the dirt and fuel oil that covered the surface of the metal with gasoline, everyone saw the long-awaited yellow shine of gold. Down and Out trouble started! The ascent continued for 20 days, until the raging Barents Sea forced the divers to stop working. In total, 431 gold bars of the highest standard (9999) weighing almost 12 kilograms were extracted from the abyss. Each of them is valued at £ 100,000 at the modern rate. But 34 ingots are still at the bottom to wait in the wings.

All the gold picked up from Edinburgh was delivered to Murmansk. Here it was carefully weighed, "capitalized" and then divided in accordance with the agreement: part was transferred as a reward to the "miner" company, and the rest of the gold was divided between the Soviet and British parties in a ratio of two to one.

Treasures in the depths

At the end of World War II, an American submarine sank the Japanese ship Awa Maru in the East China Sea. This vessel, disguised as a floating hospital, was in fact carrying out a responsible mission to transport valuables looted in the countries of East and Southeast Asia. On board, in particular, there were 12 tons of platinum, a large amount of gold, including 16 tons of antique gold coins, 150 thousand carats of rough diamonds, about 5 thousand tons of rare metals.

For almost four decades, wealth that has gone into the abyss has haunted many treasure seekers. With the support of the Japanese government, an expedition was recently organized to lift a vessel "stuffed" with precious metals. However, the task is complicated by the fact that the location of "Awa Maru" has not yet been established. True, there are reports in the press that the Japanese were ahead of the Chinese, who allegedly discovered the ship and had already begun to "clean up" the seabed.

Oil "ore"

On the northeastern coast of the Caspian Sea there is the Buzachi peninsula. Industrial oil production began here a long time ago. By itself, this event would not have caused a great resonance if it had not turned out that the Buzachinskaya oil is characterized by a high content of ... vanadium.

Now scientists of the Institute of Chemistry, Oil and Natural Salts, as well as the Institute of Metallurgy and Beneficiation of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR are developing an effective technology for extracting valuable metal from oil "ore".

Vanadium from ascidians

Some marine plants and animals - sea cucumbers, ascidians, sea urchins - “collect” vanadium, extracting it from the water in some unknown way. Some scientists believe that vanadium, which is present in living organisms of this group, performs the same functions as iron in the blood of humans and higher animals, that is, it helps to absorb oxygen, or, figuratively speaking, "breathe". Other scientists believe that the inhabitants of the seabed need vanadium not for breathing, but for food. Which of these scientists is right, further research will show. So far, it has been possible to establish that the blood of sea cucumbers contains up to 10% vanadium, and in some species of ascidians, the concentration of this element in the blood is billions of times higher than its content in seawater. Real "piggy banks" of vanadium!

Scientists are interested in the possibility of extracting vanadium from these "piggy banks". In Japan, for example, whole kilometers of sea coasts are occupied by ascidian plantations. These animals are very fertile: up to 150 kilograms of ascidians are removed from one square meter of blue plantations. After harvesting, living vanadium "ore" is sent to special laboratories, where the metal needed by the industry is obtained from it. There was a report in the press that Japanese metallurgists had already smelted steel, which was alloyed with vanadium, "extracted" from ascidians.

Cucumbers "stuffed" with iron

Biologists are increasingly discovering that living organisms can undergo processes that typically require high temperatures or pressures. So, recently the attention of scientists was drawn to sea cucumbers - representatives of an ancient genus that has existed for 50 million years. It turned out that in the gelatinous body of these animals up to 20 centimeters long, which usually live in silt at the bottom of the seas and oceans, ordinary iron in the form of tiny balls (no more than 0.002 millimeters in diameter) accumulates right under the skin. It is still unclear how sea cucumbers manage to "extract" this iron and why they need such a "filling". A series of experiments with iron isotopes may provide an answer to these questions.

"Mustache" comes into fashion

Since the Stone Age surrendered its authority to the era of copper and metal took the leading position among the materials used by man, people have constantly looked for ways to increase its strength. In the middle of the 20th century, scientists were faced with the problems of space exploration, the conquest of the ocean depths, the mastery of the energy of the atomic nucleus, and for their successful solution they needed new structural materials, "including ultra-strong metals.

Shortly before this, physicists calculated by calculation the maximum possible strength of substances: it turned out to be tens of times more than actually achieved. How can the strength characteristics of metals be brought closer to theoretical limits?

The answer, as has often happened in the history of science, came quite unexpectedly. Even during the Second World War, many cases of failure of various electronic devices, capacitors, marine telephone cables were recorded. Soon it was possible to establish the cause of the accidents: the culprits were the smallest (one to two microns in diameter) crystals of tin or cadmium in the form of needles and fibers, which sometimes grew on the surface of steel parts covered with a layer of these metals. To successfully fight whiskers, or "whiskers" (as the harmful metal "vegetation" was called), it was necessary to study them carefully. In laboratories in various countries, whiskers of hundreds of metals and compounds have been grown. They have become the object of numerous studies, as a result of which it has become clear (indeed, there is a silver lining) that the "mustache" has colossal strength, close to theoretical. The amazing strength of whiskers is due to the perfection of their structure, which, in turn, is due to their miniature size. The smaller the crystal, the less likely the presence of various defects - internal and external - in it. So, if the surface of ordinary metals, even polished, at high magnification resembles a well-plowed field, then the surface of whiskers under the same conditions looks almost even (some of them did not show roughness even at 40,000 times magnification).

From the point of view of the designer, it is quite appropriate to compare the "mustache" with an ordinary spider web, which in terms of strength to weight or length can be considered the "record holder" among all natural and synthetic materials.

Lead and eternal snow

In recent years, scientists have focused on the problems of protecting the environment from industrial pollution. Numerous studies indicate that not only in industrial areas, but also far from them, the atmosphere, soil, trees contain many times more toxic elements such as lead and mercury.

The data obtained from the analysis of Greenland firn (dense snow) are interesting. Firn samples were taken from different horizons corresponding to a particular historical period. In samples dated 800 BC. e., for each kilogram of firn there is no more than 0,000,000 4 milligrams of lead (this figure is taken as the level of natural pollution, the main source of which is volcanic eruptions). Samples dating back to the middle of the 18th century (the beginning of the industrial revolution) already contained 25 times more of it. Later, a real "invasion" of lead began on Greenland: the content of this element in samples taken from the upper horizons, that is, corresponding to our time, is 500 times higher than the natural level.

The eternal snows of the European mountain ranges are even richer in lead. Thus, its content in the firn of one of the High Tatras glaciers has increased by about 15 times over the past 100 years. Unfortunately, earlier firn samples were not analyzed. If we proceed from the level of natural concentration, then it turns out that in the High Tatras, located near the industrial areas, this level is exceeded almost 200 thousand times!

Oaks and lead

Relatively recently, the object of study by Swedish scientists was the centuries-old oaks growing in one of the parks in the center of Stockholm. It turned out that the content of lead in trees, whose age reaches 400 years, in recent decades has increased sharply along with the increase in traffic intensity. So, if in the last century oak wood contained only 0.000 001% of lead, then by the middle of the XX century the lead "reserve" doubled, and by the end of the 70s it had already increased by about 10 times. Particularly rich in this element is the side of the trees that faces the roads and, therefore, is more susceptible to exhaust gases.

Was Rein lucky?

In some ways, the Rhine was lucky: he turned out to be the only river on our planet, after which the chemical element is named - rhenium. But on the other hand, other chemical elements bring a lot of troubles to this river. Recently an international seminar, or "council on the Rhine," as the Western press called it, took place in Dusseldorf. The participants of the council made a unanimous diagnosis: "The river is dying."

The fact is that the banks of the Rhine are densely "populated" with factories and factories, including chemical factories, which generously supply the river with their wastewater. Numerous sewer "tributaries" help them quite well. According to West German scientists, 1,250 tons of various salts enter the Rhine waters every hour - a whole train! Every year the river is "enriched" with 3150 tons of chromium, 1520 tons of copper, 12,300 tons of zinc, 70 tons of silver oxide and hundreds of tons of other impurities. Is it any wonder that the Rhine is now often called the "gutter" and even the "chamber pot of industrial Europe". They also say that Rain was lucky ...

Cycle of metals

Studies by American physicists have shown that even in areas where there are no industrial enterprises and busy automobile traffic, and, consequently, sources of air pollution, there are microscopic amounts of heavy non-ferrous metals in it.

Where do they come from?

Scientists believe that the Earth's underground ore layer containing these metals is gradually evaporating. It is known that some substances under certain conditions can turn into vapor directly from the solid state, bypassing the liquid state. Although the process is extremely slow and on a very small scale, a number of escaped atoms still manage to reach the atmosphere. However, they are not destined to stay here: rains and snows constantly purify the air, returning the evaporated metals to the land they abandoned.

Aluminum will replace bronze

Since ancient times, sculptors and embossers have liked copper and bronze. Already in the 5th century BC. e. people learned to cast bronze statues. Some of them were gigantic in size. At the beginning of the III century BC. e. was created, for example, the Colossus of Rhodes - a landmark of the ancient port of Rhodes on the Aegean coast. The statue of the sun god Helios, 32 meters high at the entrance to the inner harbor of the port, was considered one of the seven wonders of the world.

Unfortunately, the grandiose creation of the ancient sculptor Charos lasted only a little more than half a century: during an earthquake, the statue collapsed and was then sold to the Syrians as scrap metal.

Rumor has it that the authorities of the island of Rhodes, in order to attract more tourists, intend to restore this wonder of the world in their harbor using the preserved drawings and descriptions. True, the resurrected Colossus of Rhodes will no longer be made of bronze, but of aluminum. According to the project, it is planned to place ... a beer bar inside the head of the revived wonder of the world.

"Boiled" ore

Not so long ago, French scientists, conducting underwater research in the Red Sea, discovered not far from the shores of Sudan a kind of pit more than 2,000 meters deep, and the water at this depth turned out to be very hot.

The researchers sank into the sinkhole on the Siana bathyscaphe, but soon they had to return, as the steel walls of the bathyscaphe quickly heated up to 43 ° C. Water samples taken by scientists showed that the pit was filled with ... hot liquid "ore": the content of chromium, iron, gold, manganese and many other metals in the water was unusually high.

Why did the mountain "sweat"

For a long time, the inhabitants of Tuva noticed that from time to time droplets of a shiny liquid appeared on the stone slopes of one of the mountains. It is no coincidence that the mountain was named Terlig-Khaya, which means "sweaty rock" in Tuvan. As established by geologists, the "fault" in this is the mercury, which is contained in the rocks that make up Terlig-Khaya. Now, at the foot of the mountain, workers of the Tuvacobalt combine are exploring and extracting "silver water".

Find in Kamchatka

There is Lake Ushki in Kamchatka. Several decades ago, four metal circles were found on its banks - ancient coins. Two coins were poorly preserved, and the numismatists of the Leningrad Hermitage could only establish their eastern origin. But two other copper mugs told the specialists a lot. They were minted in the ancient Greek city of Panticapaeum, which stood on the shore of the strait, which was called the Cimmerian Bosporus (in the area of \u200b\u200bpresent-day Kerch).

It is curious that one of these coins can be rightfully considered a contemporary of Archimedes and Hannibal: scientists dated it to the 3rd century BC. The second coin turned out to be "younger" - it was made in 17 AD, when Panticapaeum became the capital of the Bosporus kingdom. On its obverse there is an image of King Riskuporis the First, and on the reverse - the profile of the Roman emperor, most likely Tiberius, who ruled in 14–37 AD. The joint "residence" on the coin of two royal persons at once was explained by the fact that the Bosporan kings bore the title "Friend of Caesars and friend of the Romans", and therefore placed images of Roman emperors on their money.

When and in what ways did the little copper wanderers get from the shores of the Black Sea to the depths of the Kamchatka Peninsula? But the ancient coins are silent.

The robbery failed

The Assumption Cathedral is the most beautiful building in the Moscow Kremlin. The interior of the cathedral is illuminated by several chandeliers, the largest of which is made of pure silver. During the war of 1812, this precious metal was plundered by Napoleon's soldiers, but "for technical reasons" it was not possible to take it out of Russia. Silver was recaptured from the enemy, and in memory of the victory, Russian craftsmen made this unique chandelier, consisting of several hundred parts decorated with various ornaments.

"How musical it all is!"

While sailing on a yacht along the rivers of Europe in the summer of 1905, the great French composer Maurice Ravel visited a large factory located on the banks of the Rhine. What he saw there literally shocked the composer. In one of his letters, he says: “What I saw yesterday engraved in my memory and will remain forever. This is a giant foundry, which employs 24,000 people around the clock. How can I convey to you the impression of this kingdom of metal, these burning temples fire, from this wonderful symphony of whistles, the noise of driving belts, the roar of hammers that fall on you from all sides ... How musical it all is! I certainly use it! .. "The composer realized his plan only after almost a quarter of a century. In 1928 he wrote the music for the small ballet Bolero, which became Ravel's most significant work. Industrial rhythms are clearly heard in the music - more than four thousand drum beats in 17 minutes of sounding. Truly a symphony of metal!

Titanium for the Acropolis

If the ancient Greeks knew about the titanium metal, then it is likely that they would have used it as a building material in the construction of the buildings of the famous Athenian Acropolis. But, unfortunately, the architects of antiquity did not have this "eternal metal" at their disposal. Their wonderful creations have been subject to the destructive effects of centuries. Time mercilessly destroyed the monuments of Hellenic culture.

At the beginning of this century, the noticeably aged Athenian Acropolis was reconstructed: individual elements of the buildings were fastened with steel reinforcement. But decades passed, steel in some places was eaten by rust, many marble slabs sagged and cracked. To halt the destruction of the Acropolis, it was decided to replace the steel mounts with titanium ones, which are not afraid of corrosion, since titanium practically does not oxidize in air. For this, Greece has recently purchased from Japan a large consignment of "eternal metal".

Someone loses and someone finds

There is hardly a single person who has not lost anything in his life. According to the British Treasury, the British lose two million pounds of gold and silver jewelry alone annually, and approximately 150 million coins worth almost three million pounds. Since so much is lost, so much can be found. That is why a lot of "happiness seekers" have appeared in the British Isles lately. Modern technology came to their aid: special devices such as a mine detector went on sale, designed to search for small metal objects in dense grass, in bushes and even under a layer of soil. For the right to "test the waters", the Ministry of the Interior of England levies a tax of 1.2 pounds sterling from everyone (and there are about 100 thousand in the country). Some have apparently managed to justify these costs; several times in the press there were reports that ancient gold coins were found, the value of which on the numismatic market is very high.

Hair and thoughts

AT last years all kinds of tests to determine the intellectual abilities of a person have become fashionable. However, according to a certain American professor, you can completely do without tests, replacing them with an analysis of the hair of the examined individual. After analyzing more than 800 different-colored curls and strands, the scientist revealed, in his opinion, a clear relationship between mental development and the chemical composition of hair. In particular, he argues that the hair of thinking people contains more zinc and copper than the vegetation on the heads of their mentally retarded brethren.

Is this hypothesis worthy of attention? Apparently, an affirmative answer can be given only if the content of these elements in the hair of the author of the hypothesis is at a sufficiently high level.

Sugar with molybdenum

As you know, many chemical elements are necessary for the normal functioning of living and plant organisms. Usually, trace elements (they are called so because they are required in micro doses) enter the body with vegetables, fruits and other food. Recently, the Kiev Confectionery Factory began producing an unusual type of sweet product - sugar, to which trace elements necessary for a person are added. The new sugar contains manganese, copper, cobalt, chromium, vanadium, titanium, zinc, aluminum, lithium, molybdenum, of course, in microscopic quantities.

Have you tried sugar with molybdenum yet?

Precious bronze

As you know, bronze has never been considered a precious metal. However, Parker intends to make a small batch of souvenir fountain pens (five thousand in total) from this widespread alloy, which will sell for a fabulous price of £ 100. What grounds do the company leaders have to hope for the successful sale of such expensive souvenirs?

The fact is that the material for the feathers will be bronze, from which were made parts of the ship equipment of the famous British transatlantic superliner "Queen Elizabeth", built in 1940. In the summer of 1944, Queen Elizabeth, which became a transport ship during the war, set a kind of record by ferrying 15,200 servicemen across the ocean in one voyage - the largest number of people in the entire history of navigation. Fate was not favorable to this largest passenger ship in the history of the world fleet. The rapid development of aviation after the Second World War led to the fact that in the 60s, Queen Elizabeth was left practically without passengers: the majority preferred a rapid flight over the Atlantic Ocean. The luxury liner began to bring losses and was sold in the United States, where it was supposed to be put on a joke, having equipped it with fashionable restaurants, exotic bars, and gambling halls. But nothing came of this venture, and "Queen Elizabeth", sold at auction, ended up in Hong Kong. The last sad pages of the biography of the unique giant ship were added here. In 1972, a fire broke out on it, and the pride of English shipbuilders turned into a heap of scrap metal.

It was then that Parker had a tempting idea.

Unusual medal

Huge areas of the ocean floor are covered with ferromanganese nodules. Experts believe that the time is not far off when commercial mining of underwater ores will begin. In the meantime, experiments are underway to develop a technology for producing iron and manganese from nodules. There are already some first results. A number of scientists who have made a significant contribution to the development of the world's oceans were awarded an unusual commemorative medal: the material for it was iron smelted from ferromanganese nodules that were raised from the ocean floor at a depth of about five kilometers.

Toponymy helps geologists

Toponymy (from the Greek words "topos" - a place, area, and "onoma" - a name) is the science of the origin and development of geographical names. Often the area received a name due to some characteristic features of it. That is why, shortly before the war, geologists became interested in the names of some sections of one of the Caucasian ranges: Madneuli, Poladeuri and Sarkineti. Indeed, in Georgian "madani" means ore, "poladi" - steel, "rkina" - iron. Indeed, geological exploration confirmed the presence of iron ores in the depths of these places, and soon, as a result of excavations, ancient adits were also discovered.

... Perhaps someday in the fifth or tenth millennium, scientists will pay attention to the name of the ancient city of Magnitogorsk. Geologists and archaeologists will roll up their sleeves, and work will boil where steel once boiled.

"Compass of bacteria"

Nowadays, when the inquisitive gaze of scientists penetrates further and further into the depths of the Universe, the interest of science in the microworld, full of secrets and curious facts, continues unabated. Several years ago, for example, one of the staff of the Woodshall Oceanographic Institute (USA, Massachusetts) managed to find bacteria that can orient themselves in the Earth's magnetic field and move strictly in a northward direction. As it turned out, these microorganisms have two chains of crystalline iron, which, apparently, play the role of a kind of "compass". Further research should show what kind of "travel" nature provided bacteria with this "compass".

Copper table

One of the most interesting exhibits of the Nizhniy Tagil Museum of Local Lore is a massive table-monument made entirely of copper. What is it remarkable for? The answer to this question is given by the inscription on the top of the table: "This is the first copper in Russia, found in Siberia by the former commissar Nikita Demidov according to the letters of Peter I in 1702, 1705 and 1709, and from this original copper this table was made in 1715". The table weighs about 420 kilograms.

Cast iron exhibits

There are so many collections that the world does not know! Postage stamps and postcards, old coins and watches, lighters and cacti, match and wine labels - today you will not surprise anyone with this. But Z. Romanov, a master of the foundry from the Bulgarian city of Vidin, has few competitors. He collects figurines from cast iron, but not art items, such as the famous Kasli casting, but those "works of art" of which he is the author. molten cast iron. During casting, metal splashes, freezing, sometimes take on bizarre shapes. The foundry's collection, which he called "Cast Iron Jokes", contains figurines of animals and people, fabulous flowers and many other curious objects that cast iron created and was noticed by the keen gaze of the collector.

Somewhat more cumbersome and, perhaps, less aesthetic exhibits from the collection of one of the residents of the United States: he collects cast-iron covers from sewer wells. As the saying goes, "whatever the child is amused with ..." However, the wife of the happy owner of numerous covers, apparently, reasoned differently: when there was no more free space in the house, she realized that a cover had come to the family hearth and filed for divorce.

How much is silver today?

Silver coins were first minted in ancient Rome in the 3rd century BC. For more than two millennia, silver has done an excellent job with one of its functions - to serve as money. And today, silver coins are in circulation in many countries. But here's the problem: inflation and the rise in prices for precious metals, including silver, on the world market have led to a noticeable gap between the purchasing power of a silver coin and the value of the silver enclosed in it, which is growing every year. So, for example, the value of silver contained in the Swedish krona, issued between 1942 and 1967, today is actually 17 times higher than the official exchange rate of this coin.

Some enterprising people decided to take advantage of this discrepancy. Simple calculations showed that it is much more profitable to extract silver from one-crown coins than to use them for their intended purpose in stores. By melting the crowns into silver, the businessmen "earned" about 15 million crowns in several years. They would have smelted silver further, but the Stockholm police stopped their financial and metallurgical activities, and businessmen-smelters were brought to justice.

Steel diamonds

For many years, the weapons department of the State Historical Museum exhibited the hilt of a sword made by Tula craftsmen at the end of the 18th century and donated by them to Catherine II. Of course, the hilt, intended as a gift to the empress, was not simple, and not even gold, but diamond. More precisely, it was strewn with thousands of steel beads, which the craftsmen of the Tula Arms Factory, using a special cut, gave the appearance of diamonds.

The art of cutting steel appeared, apparently, in early XVIII century. Among the numerous gifts received by Peter I from the Tula, an elegant safe box with faceted steel balls on the lid attracted attention. And although there were few facets, metal "precious stones" played, attracted the eye. Over the years, diamond cutting (16-18 facets) is replaced by brilliant cut, where the number of facets can reach hundreds. But turning steel into diamonds took a lot of time and labor, so steel jewelry was often more expensive than real jewelry. At the beginning of the last century, the secrets of this wonderful art were gradually lost. Alexander I also put his hand to this, who categorically forbade the armourers to engage in such "trinkets" at the factory.

But back to the hilt. During the renovation of the museum, the hilt was stolen by crooks who were seduced by a multitude of diamonds: it never occurred to the robbers that these "stones" were made of steel. When the "fake" was discovered, the annoyed kidnappers, trying to cover their tracks, committed another crime: they broke the priceless creation of Russian craftsmen and buried it in the ground.

Still, the hilt was found, but corrosion ruthlessly dealt with man-made diamonds: the vast majority of them (about 8.5 thousand) were covered with a layer of rust, and many were completely destroyed. Almost all experts believed that it was impossible to restore the hilt. But nevertheless, a person was found who took on this most difficult task: he was the Moscow artist-restorer E.V. Butorov, on whose account there were already many revived masterpieces of Russian and Western art.

"I was perfectly aware of the responsibility and complexity of the work ahead," says Butorov. "Everything was unclear and unknown. The principle of assembling the handle was not clear, the technology for making a diamond facet was unknown, there were no tools necessary for restoration. Before starting work, I studied for a long time the era of the hilt, the technology of weapons production at that time."

The artist was forced to try various methods of cutting, combining restoration work with research research. The work was complicated by the fact that the "diamonds" differed markedly both in shape (oval, "marquise", "fancy", etc.) and in size (from 0.5 to 5 millimeters), "simple" cut (12 –16 faces) alternated with "royal" (86 faces).

And now behind ten years of intense jewelry work, crowned with great success of the talented restorer. The newly born hilt is exhibited at the State Historical Museum.

Underground palace

Mayakovskaya is considered to be one of the most beautiful stations of the Moscow metro. It fascinates Muscovites and guests of the capital with its amazing lightness of forms and grace of lines. But, apparently, few people know that this soaring openwork of the underground lobby was achieved due to the fact that during its construction, for the first time in the practice of domestic metro construction, steel structures were used, which were able to perceive the monstrous load of many meters of soil.

The station builders also used steel as a finishing material. According to the project, corrugated stainless steel was required for facing the arched structures. Dirigiblestroy specialists rendered great help to the metro builders. The fact is that this enterprise had the latest technology for that time, including the country's only broadband roll-forming mill. It was at this enterprise that the all-metal folding airship designed by K.E. Tsiolkovsky was just being mounted. The envelope of this airship consisted of metal "shells" connected to form a movable "lock". A special mill was built for rolling such parts.

The honorary order of the metro builders "Dirigible Stroy" was completed on time; for reliability, this organization sent its installers to the metro station, who were at a height deep underground.

"Monument" to iron

In 1958, in Brussels, an unusual building, the Atomium, was majestically towering over the territory of the World Industrial Exhibition. Nine huge (18 meters in diameter) metal balls seemed to be hanging in the air: eight - along the tops of the cube, the ninth - in the center. It was a model of the crystal lattice of iron, magnified 165 billion times. The Atomium symbolized the greatness of iron - a metal worker, the main metal of the industry.

When the exhibition closed, small restaurants and viewing platforms were placed in the balls of the Atomium, which were visited by about half a million people annually. It was assumed that the unique building would be dismantled in 1979. However, given the good condition of the metal structures and the considerable revenues generated by the Atomium, its owners and the authorities of Brussels signed an agreement extending the life of this “monument” to iron by at least another 30 years, that is, until 2009.

Titanium monuments

On August 18, 1964, at the hour before dawn, a space rocket was launched on Prospekt Mira in Moscow. This starship was not destined to reach the Moon or Venus, but the fate prepared for it is no less honorable: forever frozen in the Moscow sky, the silvery obelisk will carry through the centuries the memory of the first path paved by man in space.

The authors of the project could not choose for a long time facing material for this magnificent monument. First, the obelisk was designed in glass, then in plastic, then in stainless steel. But all these options were rejected by the authors themselves. After much thought and experimentation, the architects decided to opt for titanium sheets that were polished to a shine. The rocket itself, which crowned the obelisk, was also made of titanium.

This "eternal metal", as titanium is often called, was also preferred by the authors of another monumental structure. In the competition of projects of monuments in honor of the centenary of the International Telecommunication Union, organized by UNESCO, the first place (out of 213 submitted projects) was taken by the work of Soviet architects. The monument, which was supposed to be installed in Place des Nations in Geneva, was supposed to be two concrete shells 10.5 meters high, lined with plates of polished titanium. A person passing between these shells along a special path could hear his own voice, footsteps, the NOISE of the city, see his image in the center of the circles going into infinity. Unfortunately, this interesting project never came to fruition.

And recently a monument to Yuri Gagarin was erected in Moscow: the 12-meter figure of cosmonaut No. 1 on a high pedestal column and the model of the Vostok spacecraft, on which the historic flight was made, are made of titanium.

The press giant ... cracks the nuts

Several years ago, the French firm "Interforge" announced its desire to acquire a heavy-duty press for stamping complex large-sized parts of aviation and space technology. Leading firms from many countries took part in a kind of competition. The preference was given to the Soviet project. Soon an agreement was concluded, and at the beginning of 1975, at the entrance to the ancient French city of Issoir, a huge production building was built, built for one machine - a hydraulic press with a unique capacity of 65 thousand tons. The contract envisaged not just the supply of equipment, but the delivery of the press on a turnkey basis, that is, installation and start-up by Soviet specialists.

Exactly on the date set by the contract, November 18, 1976, the press stamped the first batch of parts. French newspapers called it "the machine of the century" and quoted curious numbers. The mass of this giant - 17 thousand tons - is twice the mass of the Eiffel Tower, and the height of the workshop where it is installed is equal to the height of Notre Dame Cathedral.

Despite its enormous size, the process is characterized by a high stamping speed and unusually high precision. On the eve of the start-up of the unit, French television showed how the two thousand-ton traverse of the press neatly cracks walnuts without damaging their core, or pushes a matchbox put on the bottom without leaving the slightest damage on it.

At the ceremony dedicated to the transfer of the press, V. Giscard d'Estaing, then President of France, spoke. The final words of his speech, he said in Russian: "Thank you for this excellent achievement, which does honor to Soviet industry."

Burner instead of scissors

Several years ago, a new research institute for light metals was established in Cleveland (USA). At the opening ceremony, the traditional ribbon stretched in front of the entrance to the institute was made of ... titanium. To cut it, the mayor of the city had to use a gas burner and goggles instead of scissors.

Iron ring

Several years ago, a new exhibit appeared in the Museum of History and Reconstruction of Moscow - an iron ring. And although this modest ring could not be compared with luxurious rings made of precious metals and precious stones, the museum workers gave it an honorable place in their exposition. What attracted this ring to their attention?

The fact is that the material for the ring was iron shackles worn for a long time in Siberia by the Decembrist Yevgeny Petrovich Obolensky, the chief of staff of the uprising on Senate Square, who was sentenced to eternal hard labor. In 1828, the highest permission came to remove the shackles from the Decembrists. Brothers Nikolai and Mikhail Bestuzhev, who were serving their sentences at the Nerchinsk mines, together with Obolensky, made commemorative iron rings from his shackles.

More than a hundred years after the death of Obolensky, the ring was kept along with other relics in his family, passing from generation to generation. And nowadays, the descendants of the Decembrist donated this unusual iron ring to the museum.

Something about blades

For more than a century, people have been using shaving blades - thin sharpened plates made of different metals. Omnipotent statistics claim that today about 30 billion blades are produced in the world every year.

At first they were made mainly of carbon steel, then "stainless steel" came to replace it. In recent years, the cutting edges of the blades are covered with the thinnest layer of high molecular weight polymeric materials, serving as a dry lubricant in the process of cutting hair, and to increase the resistance of the cutting edges, atomic films of chromium, gold or platinum are sometimes applied to them.

"Events" in the mines

In 1974, a discovery was registered in the USSR, which is based on complex biochemical processes performed. bacteria. Long-term study of antimony deposits has shown that antimony in them is gradually oxidized, although under normal conditions such a process cannot proceed: this requires high temperatures - more than 300 ° C. What are the reasons that make antimony break chemical laws?

Examination of the oxidized ore samples showed that they were densely populated with previously unknown microorganisms, which were the culprits of oxidative "events" in the mines. But, having oxidized antimony, the bacteria did not rest on their laurels: they immediately used the energy of oxidation to carry out another chemical process - chemosynthesis, i.e., to convert carbon dioxide into organic substances.

The phenomenon of chemosynthesis was first discovered and described back in 1887 by the Russian scientist S. N. Vinogradsky. However, until now, science has known only four elements, the bacterial oxidation of which releases energy for chemosynthesis: nitrogen, sulfur, iron and hydrogen. Now antimony has been added to them.

Copper "clothes" of GUM

Who from Muscovites or guests of the capital has not been to the State Department Store - GUM? The shopping arcade, built almost a hundred years ago, is experiencing its second youth. Specialists of the All-Union Scientific and Restoration Plant carried out extensive work on the reconstruction of GUM. In particular, the galvanized iron roof, which has worn out over the years, has been replaced with modern roofing material - "tiles" made of sheet copper.

Cracks in the mask

For many years, scientists have been arguing over the unique creation of ancient Egyptian masters - the golden mask of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Some claimed that it was made from a whole bar of gold. Others believed that it was assembled from separate parts. To establish the truth, it was decided to use a cobalt cannon. With the help of the isotope of cobalt, or rather the gamma rays emitted by it, it was possible to establish that the mask really consists of several parts, but so carefully fitted to one another that it was impossible to notice the joint lines with the naked eye.

In 1980, the famous collection of ancient Egyptian art was on display in West Berlin. The center of attention, as always, was the famous mask of Tutankhamun. Suddenly, on one of the days of the exhibition, experts noticed three deep cracks on the mask. Probably, for some reason, the "seams", that is, the lines of the joint of the individual parts of the mask, began to diverge. Alarmed in earnest, representatives of the ARE Cultural and Tourism Commission hastened to return the collection to Egypt. Now the word is for the examination, which should answer the question, what happened to the most valuable work of ancient art?

Lunar aluminum

As on Earth, pure metals are relatively rare on the Moon. Nevertheless, it has already been possible to find particles of such metals as iron, copper, nickel, zinc. In a sample of lunar soil taken by the automatic station "Luna-20" in the continental part of our satellite - between the Sea of \u200b\u200bCrises and the Sea of \u200b\u200bAbundance - native aluminum was first discovered. During the study of the lunar fraction weighing 33 milligrams at the Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, three tiny particles of pure aluminum were identified. These are flat slightly elongated grains of 0.22, 0.15 and 0.1 millimeters in size with a matte surface and silvery-gray in a fresh fracture.

The crystal lattice parameters of native lunar aluminum turned out to be the same as those of pure aluminum samples obtained in terrestrial laboratories. In nature, on our planet, native aluminum was found by scientists only once in Siberia. According to experts, this metal should be found more often in its pure form on the Moon. This is explained by the fact that the lunar soil is constantly "bombarded" by streams of protons and other particles of cosmic radiation. Such bombardment can lead to disruption of the crystal lattice and to the rupture of bonds between aluminum and other chemical elements in the minerals that make up the lunar rock. As a result of the "rupture of relations", particles of pure aluminum appear in the soil.

For the sake of self-interest

The battle of Tsushima took place three quarters of a century ago. In this unequal battle with the Japanese squadron, the deep sea swallowed up several Russian ships and among them the cruiser "Admiral Nakhimov".

Recently, the Japanese company Nippon Marine decided to lift the cruiser from the seabed. Of course, the operation to raise the "Admiral Nakhimov" is explained not by love for Russian history and its relics, but by the most selfish considerations: there is information that there were gold bars on board the sunken ship, the cost of which in current prices can range from 1 to $ 4.5 billion.

It has already been possible to determine the place where the cruiser lies at a depth of about 100 meters, and the company is ready to start lifting it. According to experts, this operation will last several months and will cost the company about $ 1.5 million. Well, for the sake of billions, you can risk millions.

Antiquities deep

Products made of wood or stone, ceramics or metal made hundreds, and sometimes even thousands of years ago, adorn the stands of the largest museums in the world, occupy an honorable place in numerous private collections. Lovers of antiquity are ready to pay fabulous money for the works of ancient masters, and some enterprising lovers of money, in turn, are ready to create in a wide range and profitably sell "deep antiquities".

How to distinguish genuine rarities from finely executed fakes? Previously, the only "device" for this purpose was the experienced eye of a specialist. But, alas, you cannot always rely on him. Today, science makes it possible to quite accurately determine the age of various products from any materials.

Perhaps the main object of counterfeiting is gold jewelry, statuettes, coins of ancient peoples - Etruscans and Byzantines, Incas and Egyptians, Romans and Greeks. Methods for establishing the authenticity of gold items are based on technological examination and metal analysis. For one or another impurity, old gold can be easily distinguished from new, and the metal processing methods used by ancient masters and the nature of their work are so original and unique that the chances of falsifiers for success are reduced to zero.

Experts recognize copper and bronze forgeries by the surface features of the metal, but mainly by its chemical composition... Since it has changed many times over the centuries, each period is characterized by a certain content of the main components. Thus, in 1965, the collection of the Berlin Kunsthandel Museum was replenished with a valuable exhibit - a bronze late antique watering can in the shape of a horse. This leica, or rhyton, was thought to represent "a Coptic work of the 9th-10th centuries." Exactly the same bronze rhyton, the authenticity of which was beyond doubt, is kept in the Hermitage. Careful comparison of the exhibits has led scientists to believe that the Berlin horse is nothing more than a skillfully made forgery. Indeed, the analysis confirmed the fears: bronze contained 37–38% zinc - too much for the 10th century. Most likely, experts believe, this rhyton was born only a few years before it came to the Kunsthandel, that is, around 1960 - at the "rush hour" of the fashion for Coptic products.

In the fight against counterfeiting

To determine the authenticity of ancient ceramics, scientists have successfully applied the method of archeomagnetism. What does it consist in? When the ceramic mass is cooled, the iron particles contained in it have a "habit" of aligning along the lines of force of the Earth's magnetic field. And since it changes over time, the nature of the arrangement of iron particles also changes, due to which, through simple research, it is possible to determine the age of the "suspected" ceramic product. Even if the forger managed to select the composition of the ceramic mass, similar to the ancient compositions, and skillfully copy the shape of the product, then, of course, he was not able to arrange the iron particles accordingly. This is what will give him away.

The growth of the "iron madame"

As you know, metals have a fairly high coefficient of thermal expansion.

For this reason, steel structures, depending on the season, and therefore on the ambient temperature, become longer or shorter. So, the famous Eiffel Tower - "iron madame", as Parisians often call it, - in summer it is 15 centimeters higher than in winter.

"Iron rain"

Our planet is not very hospitable to celestial wanderers: when entering the dense layers of its atmosphere, large meteorites usually explode and fall on the earth's surface in the form of so-called "meteor showers".

The most abundant such "rain" fell on February 12, 1947 over the western spurs of the Sikhote-Alin. It was accompanied by a roar of explosions, a bolide was seen within a radius of 400 kilometers - a bright fireball with a huge glowing smoky tail.

To study such unusual "atmospheric precipitation", an expedition of the Committee on Meteorites of the USSR Academy of Sciences soon arrived in the zone of the space alien's impact. In the taiga wilds, scientists have found 24 craters with a diameter of 9 to 24 meters, as well as more than 170 craters and holes formed by particles of "iron rain". In total, the expedition collected over 3500 iron fragments with a total weight of 27 tons. According to experts, before meeting the Earth, this meteorite, called the Sikhote-Alin, weighed about 70 tons.

Termites Geologists

Geologists often use the "services" of many plants, which serve as a kind of indicators of certain chemical elements and, thanks to this, help to discover the deposits of the corresponding minerals in the soil. And the mining engineer from Zimbabwe, William West, decided to attract representatives of not flora, but fauna, more precisely, ordinary African termites, as assistants in geological searches. During the construction of their cone-shaped "hostels" - termite mounds (their height sometimes reaches 15 meters), these insects penetrate deep into the ground. Returning to the surface, they carry with them building material - soil "samples" from different depths. That is why the study of termite mounds - the determination of their chemical and mineral composition - makes it possible to judge the presence of certain minerals in the soil of a given area.

West conducted many experiments, which then formed the basis of his "termite" method. The first practical results have already been obtained: thanks to the method of engineer West, rich gold-bearing layers have been discovered.

What's under the ice of Antarctica?

Antarctica, discovered in 1820, still remains a continent of mysteries: after all, almost all of its territory (by the way, almost one and a half times the area of \u200b\u200bEurope) is encased in an ice shell. The thickness of the ice is on average 1.5–2 kilometers, and in some places it reaches 4.5 kilometers.

It is not easy to look under this "shell", and although scientists from a number of countries have been conducting intensive research here for more than a quarter of a century, Antarctica has not revealed all its secrets. In particular, scientists are interested in the natural resources of this continent. Many facts indicate that Antarctica has a common geological past with South America, Africa, Australia and, therefore, these regions should have approximately similar ranges of minerals. So, Antarctic rocks, apparently, contain diamonds, uranium, titanium, gold, silver, tin. In some places, coal beds, deposits of iron and copper-molybdenum ores have already been discovered. The mountains of ice are still an obstacle on the way to them, but sooner or later these riches will be at the disposal of people.

B. G. Andreev

When a person unfamiliar with stenography observes the hand of a stenographer quickly sliding across the paper at a meeting, it seems to him extremely surprising the opportunity to literally reconstruct the speaker's speech with the help of “mysterious” hooks and squiggles that appear on the paper. And he is involuntarily amazed at what conveniences, what opportunities, and what enormous time savings this conventional system of shorthand signs gives.

Figure: 1. Chemical symbols used in the Alexandrian books of chemistry.

Figure: 2. Alchemical symbols of 1609

Dalton symbols.

Figure: 3. A snapshot from the Dalton table showing atoms and molecules. Below is the structure of some "complex atoms" according to modern Dalton data.

At a lecture by an English alchemist.

John Dalton (1766-1844).

Jacob Berzelius, creator of the modern chemical language (1779-1848).

Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794).

Chemical symbolism seems no less mysterious to a person unfamiliar with chemistry - Latin letters of various sizes, numbers, arrows, pluses, dots, commas, complex shapes and combinations of letters and dashes ... And those who know chemistry know well what are the possibilities, what conveniences and what time saving is provided by skillful use of modern chemical language, which is equally understandable to chemists of any nationality.

It is not necessary, however, to think that this eminently convenient language appeared immediately in its modern perfect form. No, he, like everything else in the world, has its own history, and a long history that has been going on for over two millennia.

Let's move mentally to the sunny shores of the Mediterranean Sea - to the Egyptian port of Alexandria. This is one of the oldest cities in the world, it was founded by Alexander the Great for more than three hundred years BC. Soon after its founding, this city became the most important cultural center of the Mediterranean. Suffice it to say that the famous Alexandrian library, burnt down by religious fanatics Christians in 47 AD. e., contained 700 thousand volumes of essays on various branches of knowledge, including chemistry.

Metallurgy, glass making, dyeing of fabrics and other chemical industries developed in ancient Egypt gave a lot of empirical material, which Greek and Arab scientists who were involved in Alexandria tried to generalize and systematize. cultural property... Fortunately, some monuments of this culture survived the barbaric defeat by Christians, including some works on chemistry. They survived, despite the fact that in 296 AD. The Roman emperor Diocletian, in a special decree, where, by the way, for the first time the word "chemistry" was officially mentioned, ordered to burn all books on chemistry in Alexandria.

And so, in the works of Alexandrian authors, we already meet chemical symbolism. Taking a look at fig. 1, the reader will see how much easier our modern chemical signs to remember than this symbolism. However, here the same technique is sometimes used that we also use: the symbols of vinegar, salt, arsenic were obtained by abbreviating the corresponding Greek words.

The situation with metals is more complicated. The then known metals were dedicated to the heavenly bodies: gold to the Sun, silver to the Moon, copper to Venus, mercury to Mercury, iron to Mars, tin to Jupiter and lead to Saturn. Therefore, metals are designated here by the signs of the corresponding planets. From this association of metals with planets, it followed, among other things, that before undertaking any chemical operations with this metal, it was necessary to inquire about the location of the corresponding "patron planet" in the sky.

The successors of the chemists of the ancient world were alchemists, who also adopted the comparison of metals with planets. It is interesting to note that traces of this remained even in some modern chemical names: for example, mercury in English, French and Spanish is called mercury (mercurg, mercure, mercurio). However, the accumulation of chemical facts and the discovery of many new substances caused the development of a special alchemical symbolism (Fig. 2). This symbolism, held for many centuries, was no more convenient to remember than the Alexandrian; moreover, it was neither consistent nor uniform.

An attempt to create rational chemical symbolism was made only at the end of the 18th century by the famous John Dalton, the founder of chemical atomism. He introduced special signs for each chemical element known at that time (Fig. 3). At the same time, he made a very important clarification, which formed the basis of modern chemical symbolism: with a certain sign Dalton did not designate a given element in general, but one atom of this element. Dalton designated chemical compounds (as is done now) by a combination of icons included in a given compound of elements; the number of symbols corresponded to the number of atoms of this or that element in the "complex atom", that is, about the molecule of the compound.

The above figures show, however, that the Dalton icons were not particularly convenient for memorization, not to mention the fact that the formulas of more complex compounds become very cumbersome under this system. But, examining Dalton's badges, one can notice one interesting detail: Dalton designated some elements with the initial letters of their English names set in circles - iron, copper, etc. It is this detail that the creator of the modern chemical language drew attention to Jacob Berzelius, the same Berzelius, to whom the school authorities wrote in his graduation certificate that he "justified only dubious hopes", and who later became the most famous chemist of his time.

Berzelius proposed to designate chemical elements by the first Latin letter of their names, usually taken from Latin or Greek. If the names of several elements begin with the same letter, then one of them is designated by one letter (for example, carbon C), and the rest by two (calcium Ca, cadmium Cd, cerium Ce, cesium Cs, cobalt Co, etc.). At the same time, like Dalton's, the symbol of an element has a strictly quantitative meaning: it denotes one atom of a given element and at the same time as many weight units of this element as its atomic weight contains. For example, the sign O denotes one oxygen atom and 16 wt. units oxygen, the sign N is one nitrogen atom and 14.008 wt. units nitrogen, etc.

There is nothing easier than writing the formula for a chemical compound according to the Berzelius system. To do this, you do not need to pile up one next to another a large number of circles, like Dalton's, but you just need to write next to the symbols of the elements that make up this compound, on the bottom right, next to each symbol, mark the number of atoms of this element in the molecule (the unit is omitted) : water - H 2 O, sulfuric acid - H 2 SO 4, berthollet salt - KSIO 3, etc. This formula immediately shows which elements a molecule of a given compound consists of, how many atoms of each element are included in its composition and what are the weight ratios elements in a molecule.

With the help of such formulas, chemical reactions are simply and clearly depicted by special equations. The principle of drawing up such equations was established by the famous Lavoisier, who wrote:

“If I distill an unknown salt with sulfuric acid and find nitric acid in the receiver and in the remainder of the vitriol, I conclude that the original salt was nitrate. I arrive at this conclusion by mentally writing the following equation based on the assumption that the total weight of everything remains the same before and after surgery.

If x is an acid of an unknown salt and y is an unknown base, I write: x [+] y [+] sulfuric acid \u003d nitric acid [+] vitriol \u003d nitric acid [+] sulfuric acid [+] caustic potash.

From this I conclude: x \u003d nitric acid, y \u003d caustic potash, and the original salt was saltpeter. "

Now we will write this chemical reaction according to the Berzelius system simply:

2KNO 3 + H 2 SO 4 \u003d 2HNO 3 + K 2 SO 4.

And how much this little line of signs and numbers says to a chemist of any nationality. He immediately sees what substances are initial in the reaction, what substances represent its products, what is the qualitative and quantitative composition of these substances; with the help of a plate of atomic weights and simple calculations, he will quickly determine how many initial substances must be taken in order to obtain a certain amount of the substance he needs, etc.

The system of chemical symbolism developed by Berzelius was so expedient that it has been preserved up to the present time. However, chemistry does not stand still, it is developing rapidly, new facts and concepts are constantly appearing in it, which, naturally, are reflected in chemical symbolism.

The flourishing of organic chemistry caused the appearance of formulas for the structure of chemical compounds, formulas that are often complex in appearance, but at the same time surprisingly harmonious and visual, telling a person who knows how to understand them much more than many lines and even pages of text. For example, the benzene symbol, which at first glance seems artificial and seems to resemble an alchemical dragon devouring its own tail, turned out to be so faithfully reflecting the basic properties of this compound and its derivatives that the latest crystallographic studies have brilliantly confirmed the actual existence of the combination of atoms represented by this symbol.

Even at the time of Berzelius, signs like Ca, Fe ", etc., appeared in chemistry, but they soon disappeared and resurrected again only after the approval of Arrhenius's theory of electrolytic dissociation in chemistry. Berzelius originally designated the number of oxygen atoms associated with a given element with dots. , and commas - the number of sulfur atoms, thus the symbol Ca denoted calcium oxide (CaO), and the symbol Fe "- disulfide iron (FeS 2). Longest of all, these signs were kept in mineralogy, but in the end, there, too, the periods and commas were replaced by the modern symbols of oxygen and sulfur. Now the dots and commas near the symbol of atoms (or groups of atoms) have a completely different meaning: they denote positively or negatively charged ions, that is, atoms (or groups of atoms) that have lost one or more electrons and have lost them. The ionic equations further simplify the depiction of the essence of a series of chemical reactions; for example, any reaction of the formation of a precipitate of silver chloride from solutions of various salts will be depicted by a simple: and a visual ionic equation:

Ag ˙ + Cl ’˙ \u003d AgCl

Before our eyes, a new type of chemical symbolism has appeared and won the rights of citizenship, reflecting the amazing achievements of recent years in the field of revealing the secrets of the structure of atoms and the transformation of elements. Until recently, any chemist would have been completely bewildered by formulas like the following:

Now we know that here the small numbers at the bottom of the symbol of the element still denote the number of atoms of this element in the molecule, and the small numbers at the top - the atomic weight of the corresponding isotope (isotopes are elements that are identical in chemical properties, that is, in the nuclear charge, but possess different atomic weights). And the equation

tells us that when nitrogen is bombarded with alpha particles (nuclei of helium atoms), some of its atoms are converted into an isotope of oxygen with an atomic weight of 17; the numbers below here already denote ordinal numbers or, in other words, the value of the positive charge of the nucleus of the atom of the corresponding element.

Some of these equations contain symbols that were not found in any chemistry book just a few years ago:

The first of them denotes a proton [+] (a positively charged nucleus of a protium atom, that is, hydrogen with an atomic weight of 1), the second denotes a neutron (a neutral particle with the mass of a proton), the third denotes a positron (a particle similar in mass to an electron, but having a positive charge).

The signs and numbers given in the last examples symbolize the most amazing achievements of modern science, which the talented creator of the foundations of the now accepted international chemical language could hardly have dreamed of.

Moscow
14 / IX 1936

Man has always sought to find materials that leave no chance for their competitors. Since ancient times, scientists have been looking for the hardest materials in the world, the lightest and the heaviest. The thirst for discovery led to the discovery of ideal gas and ideal black body. We present to you the most amazing substances in the world.

1. The blackest substance

The blackest substance in the world is called Vantablack and consists of a collection of carbon nanotubes (see carbon and its allotropic modifications). Simply put, the material consists of an infinite number of "hairs", hitting which, light bounces from one tube to another. Thus, about 99.965% of the light flux is absorbed and only a tiny part is reflected back outward.
The discovery of Vantablack opens up broad prospects for the application of this material in astronomy, electronics and optics.

2. The most flammable substance

Chlorine trifluoride is the most flammable substance ever known to mankind. It is the strongest oxidizing agent and reacts with almost all chemical elements. Chlorine trifluoride can burn through concrete and easily ignite glass! The use of chlorine trifluoride is practically impossible due to its phenomenal flammability and the impossibility of ensuring the safety of use.

3. The most poisonous substance

The most powerful poison is botulinum toxin. We know it under the name Botox, this is what it is called in cosmetology, where it found its main application. Botulinum toxin is a chemical secreted by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. In addition to the fact that botulinum toxin is the most poisonous substance, it also has the largest molecular weight among proteins. The phenomenal toxicity of the substance is evidenced by the fact that only 0.00002 mg min / l of botulinum toxin is enough to make the affected area deadly for a person for half a day.

4. The hottest substance

This is the so-called quark-gluon plasma. The substance was created by the collision of gold atoms at near light speed. Quark-gluon plasma has a temperature of 4 trillion degrees Celsius. For comparison, this figure is 250,000 times higher than the temperature of the Sun! Unfortunately, the lifetime of a substance is limited to a trillionth of one trillionth of a second.

5. The most corrosive acid

In this nomination, the champion is fluoride-antimic acid H. Fluoride-antimonic acid is 2 × 10 16 (two hundred quintillion) times more caustic than sulfuric acid. It is a very active substance that can explode when a small amount of water is added. The fumes of this acid are deadly poisonous.

6. The most explosive substance

The most explosive substance is heptanitrocubane. It is very expensive and is only used for scientific research. But a slightly less explosive HMX is successfully used in military affairs and in geology when drilling wells.

7. The most radioactive substance

Polonium-210 is an isotope of polonium that does not exist in nature, but is manufactured by man. It is used to create miniature, but at the same time, very powerful energy sources. It has a very short half-life and is therefore capable of causing severe radiation sickness.

8. Heaviest substance

This is, of course, fullerite. Its hardness is almost 2 times higher than that of natural diamonds. You can read more about fullerite in our article The hardest materials in the world.

9. The strongest magnet

The world's strongest magnet is made up of iron and nitrogen. At present, details about this substance are not available to the general public, but it is already known that the new super-magnet is 18% more powerful than the strongest magnets in use today - neodymium. Neodymium magnets are made from neodymium, iron and boron.

10. The most fluid substance

Superfluid Helium II has almost no viscosity at temperatures close to absolute zero. This property is due to its unique property of seeping and pouring out of a vessel made of any solid material. Helium II has prospects of being used as an ideal thermal conductor in which heat is not dissipated.

CHEMISTRY IN EGYPT DURING THE HELINISTIC PERIOD. ANCIENT LITERARY CHEMICAL MONUMENTS

In the IV century. BC e. Alexander the Great (356–323) undertook military campaigns and conquered Greece, Persia and many countries of Asia and Africa. In 322 BC. e. he conquered Egypt and the next year laid the city of Alexandria on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, in the Nile Delta. Within a short time, thanks to the beneficial geographic location, Alexandria became the largest trade and industrial-handicraft center of the ancient world and the most important port on the Mediterranean. She became the capital of the new Hellenistic Egypt.

After the sudden death of Alexander the Great, his vast empire fell apart. In the emerging independent states, his most prominent associates became in power. So, in Egypt, Ptolemy-Soter reigned, who became the ancestor of the Ptolemaic dynasty (323–30 BC). Ruthlessly exploiting the population, Ptolemy amassed considerable wealth and, imitating the former Egyptian pharaohs, started a luxurious court. As a court institution, he founded the Alexandria Academy, in which young people of different nations, mainly Greeks, began to study sciences and arts. Prominent scholars from Athens and other cities were recruited to teach at the Academy.

A museum (House of Muses) was established at the Academy with numerous natural science collections and art collections. A library was created, which consisted of Greek manuscripts, ancient Egyptian papyri and clay and wax tablets with texts of works of scientists and writers of antiquity. Under the successors of Ptolemy-Soter, the replenishment of the museum and library continued. Ptolemy II - Philadelphus - acquired for the library a large collection of books that belonged to Aristotle. Many of these books were received by Aristotle as a gift from Alexander the Great. A procedure was established under which every book brought to Egypt had to be presented to the Academy, where a copy was made. A large number of books were copied in many copies and distributed among scientists and science lovers.

Already under the first Ptolemies, many philosophers, poets and scientists of various specialties, mainly mathematicians, were concentrated in the Alexandrian Academy. However, the conditions of the Academy as a court institution did not contribute to the development of advanced philosophical ideas and teachings in it. The reactionary and idealistic doctrines "Gnosticism" and "Neoplatonism" became the leading directions in the Academy.

Gnosticism is a movement of a religious and mystical nature. Gnostics dealt with the issues of cognition (gnosis) of the essence of the higher divine principle. They recognized the existence of an "invisible" world inhabited by countless disembodied beings. Descriptions of this world are full of mysticism and symbolism. The Gnostics were ardent enemies of natural science materialism.

Neoplatonism, which became especially widespread in the 3rd and 4th centuries. n. e. thanks to Plotinus (204-270), it was also a philosophical teaching of a religious and mystical nature. Neoplatonists recognized the existence of the soul not only in people and living beings in general, but also in bodies of "dead nature." The interpretation of various manifestations of the soul and actions at a distance of spirits trapped in various bodies constituted the main content of the philosophy of the Neoplatonists. The teachings of the Neoplatonists became the basis of astrology - the art of predicting various events and people's destinies by the position of the stars. Neoplatonism formed the basis of the so-called black magic - the art of intercourse with the spirits and souls of dead people by means of spells, various manipulations, fortune telling, etc.

The teachings of the Gnostics and Neoplatonists, which absorbed elements of many religious codes and dogmas, partially formed the basis for the formation of Christian dogma. Despite the pitiful role played by philosophy, such sciences as mathematics, mechanics, physics, astronomy, geography and medicine were brilliantly developed at the Alexandria Academy. The reasons for the success in the development of these areas of knowledge will become clear if we recall their important practical importance, primarily for military affairs (mechanics and mathematics), agriculture and irrigation work (geometry), navigation and trade (geography, astronomy), as well as in the life of a courtier. nobility (medicine).

Among the greatest mathematicians of the Alexandrian Academy, Euclid (died after 280 BC) and Archimedes (287-212 BC) should be named, who had many students. The achievements of these great mathematicians of antiquity are widely known.

Chemistry in the first century of the Alexandria Academy had not yet emerged as an independent field of knowledge. In Alexandria, she was an important part of the "sacred secret art" of the priests of the temples, primarily the Temple of Serapis. A significant part of the chemical knowledge and techniques, especially concerning the manufacture of artificial gold and fake precious stones, remained inaccessible to the general public.

There is no doubt that in the ancient Egyptian temples of the pre-Hellenistic period there have long existed recipe collections describing chemical-technical operations and methods of producing gold and gold alloys, as well as all kinds of fakes of precious metals and precious stones. In such collections, along with chemical and technical recipes and descriptions, secret information on astronomy, astrology, magic, pharmacy, medicine, as well as on mathematics and mechanics was contained. Thus, chemical-technical and chemical-practical information was only a section of natural science, mathematical and other knowledge, as well as all kinds of mystical (magic and astrology) descriptions and spells. All this information in that era was usually united by the common name "physics" (from the Greek - "nature").

After the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, when many Greeks settled in Alexandria and other major cities of the country, the entire complex of knowledge accumulated over many centuries by the priests of the temples of Osiris and Isis crossed with Greek philosophy and craft technology, in particular with chemical crafts. Moreover, many technical "secrets" of the Egyptian priests became available to Greek scientists and artisans.

Naturally, from the point of view of the dominant philosophical worldview of the Greeks in that era (philosophy of the Peripatetics, and then Gnosticism and Neoplatonism), the ancient Egyptian technique of forging precious metals and stones was viewed as a true art of “transforming” one substance into another. In addition, with a low level of chemical knowledge in that era, it was far from always possible to establish a fake by chemical analysis or in another way.

The tempting prospect of quick enrichment, the aura of mystery surrounding the operations of "ennobling" metals, and, finally, confidence in the full compliance of the phenomena of "transformation" of substances, especially the mutual transformations of metals, with the laws of nature - all this greatly contributed to the rapid spread of the "secret arts "Egyptian priests in Hellenistic Egypt, and then in other countries of the Mediterranean basin. Already around the beginning of our era, the manufacture of fake precious metals and precious stones has become widespread.

Judging by the literary works that have come down to us, the methods of "converting" base metals into gold and silver were reduced to three operations: 1) changing the surface color of a base metal by the action of suitable chemicals or by coating it with a thin layer of a noble metal, giving the "converted" metal the appearance of gold, or silver; 2) painting metals with varnishes of the corresponding colors; and 3) making alloys similar in appearance to gold or silver (48).

Of the literary works of the chemical and technical content of the era of the Alexandrian Academy, let us name first of all the "Leiden papyrus X", dating back to the 3rd century. n. e. (49) This document was found together with others in one of the Theban tombs in 1828. It entered the Leiden Museum, but for a long time did not attract the attention of researchers and was read and commented on only in 1885. The Leiden papyrus (in Greek) contains more than 100 recipes describing ways to counterfeit precious metals.

In 1906 it became known about the existence of another ancient papyrus of the same time. This is the so-called Stockholm papyrus, which ended up in the library of the Academy of Sciences in Stockholm in the 1830s. It contained 152 recipes, of which 9 relate to metals, 73 to the manufacture of fake precious stones and pearls, and 70 to dyeing fabrics, mainly to obtain a purple color (50).

In some other chemical papyri, in addition to recipe formulas, there are inserts that are something like spells. For example, the Leiden Papyrus V contains the following insert: “The doors of heaven are open, the doors of the earth are open, the sea is open, the rivers are open. All gods and spirits obeyed my spirit, the spirit of the earth obeyed my spirit, the spirit of the sea obeyed my spirit, the spirit of the rivers obeyed my spirit ”(51).

Special studies have shown that both papyri are quite close in content to more ancient works, which were apparently widespread in Hellenistic Egypt and which have come down to us in lists of a much later time. For example, there is a well-known work in Greek, first published by Berthelot under the title Physics and Mysticism (52) and appearing as the work of Democritus of Abdera. In fact, as established by Diels and Lippmann, the primary source of this and other similar works is an encyclopedic work of an older origin, compiled by a certain Bolos of Mendes around 200 BC. e. based on data from Greek science, Egyptian secret science and several ancient Persian works of a mystical nature. Obviously, Bolos, wishing for some reason to hide his authorship in the compilation of this encyclopedia, attributed part of his work to various ancient philosophers, including the famous atomist Democritus. A similar method of attributing authorship of works related to the field of "secret science" to other authors, especially famous philosophers and scientists, was very often used from the most ancient times up to the 17th century. (53) The reasons and motivations for this “transfer of authorship” to other people varied: in some cases, the original authors feared persecution for their works, in others, “pseudo-authorship” was used to advertise when selling the corresponding list of the essay.

During the era of Roman rule in Egypt, in Alexandria, some works of artisanal and chemical content were distributed. The chemical and technical information in these works, in contrast to the previous ones, is already set forth in an obscure language and is accompanied by vague statements and incantations. These works are full of religious mysticism.

So, there are several unnamed manuscripts in which the authorship of the reported secret information is attributed either to the gods or to various mythical personalities of the distant past. The founders of the "sacred secret art" of making precious metals, stones and pearls are considered, in particular, the god Osiris, Thoth, or Hermes, called "Trismegistos", that is, "thrice greatest", Isis, Horus, Moses, as well as Democritus, Cleopatra of Egypt, Mary the Jewess (Coptic) and others. Especially great merits were attributed to the mythical Hermes Trismegistos, apparently a deified ancient Egyptian priest. In the same manuscripts, legends are cited about the divine origin of the "secret art" of metal transformation, about the existence of works of gods and angels, supposedly carefully buried in hiding places, containing the greatest "secrets." In particular, the legend about the "emerald table" of Hermes is cited, which became very popular among medieval alchemists. The text of this mythical table, allegedly written on an emerald plate found by Alexander the Great in the tomb of Hermes, is as follows: “Truly, without deception, authentically and completely truthful. What is below is similar to what is above. And what is above is similar to what is below, for performing miracles of a single work. And just as all objects originated from one substance, according to the thought of one, so they all originated from this substance by way of adoption. His father is the Sun, his mother is the Moon. The wind carried him in its womb, the earth is its nurse. It is the father of all perfection in the universe. If turned into earth, its power does not diminish. Separate earth from fire, subtle from rough, carefully, with great skill. This substance rises from the earth to the sky and immediately descends to the earth again and collects the strength of both the upper and lower things. And you will receive worldwide fame. And every darkness will move away from you. Its power is more powerful than any power, because it will catch everything that is elusive and penetrate everything that is impenetrable. For this is how the world was created! Here is the source of amazing uses. That is why I was called Hermes Three times the greatest, owning three divisions of world philosophy. I have said here everything about the matter of the Sun ”(54) (apparently, gold).

The legend about the role of Hermes in the founding of the "sacred secret art" became widespread in the 6th century, and later, in the 13th century. and, especially, in the XVI-XVII centuries, his "emerald table" acquired great fame. In the name of Hermes, the "secret art" of transforming metals in the Middle Ages was called "hermetic" art.

By the VI century. include the works of Synesius, a commentator on the writings attributed to Democritus (Pseudo-Democritus), Stephen of Alexandria and Olympiodorus ("On the sacred art") and many others. All these works contain an abundance of mysticism, vague symbolism, spells, etc. By the way, Olympiodorus was one of the first to use the designation of the seven metals of antiquity by the signs of the planets, which were used in ancient Egypt (55).

In addition to the works of Pseudo-Democritus - Bolos, in the era of the Alexandrian Academy, a large work of the "divine" Zosima from Panopolis (about 400) was known. Zosima was probably closely associated with the Alexandrian Academy, where in the II-IV centuries. the "secret art" was taught. Zosima's work has not come down to us completely and with significant distortions. It consists of 28 books, which deal with various techniques of the "secret art", for example, the question of "fixing mercury", "divine water", the sacred art of making gold and silver, the four bodies, the philosopher's stone, etc. . (56).

In the work of Zosima, apparently, for the first time in literature, the name "chemistry" is mentioned (some authors believe that this name in the manuscript of Zosima's work is a later insertion) in the understanding of "sacred secret art". According to the Hebrew legend (“The Book of Genesis”, ch. 6), Zosima says that this art was passed on to people by the fallen angels, who, after the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise, converged with the daughters of men and, as a reward for their love, communicated to them techniques “ secret art ". According to Zosima, the first book in which information about the "secret art" was collected was written by the prophet Hem (Ham?), From whose name the very name of art was derived (57). Zosima's work was widely known among the Alexandrian, and later also among the medieval alchemists. The widespread dissemination of the secret art of transforming metals, the appearance of a huge number of counterfeit coins in circulation, became a threat to trade. In the first centuries of our era, during the era of Roman rule in Egypt, the Roman emperors tried repeatedly to ban the practice of "secret art". So, Diocletian about 300 in connection with the monetary reform in the empire issued a decree on the burning of all books containing descriptions of the manufacture of gold and silver.

On the other hand, the "secret art" and associated religious and mystical rituals, fortune-telling, spells, black magic, etc. caused persecution by the Christian clergy, who saw in such activities a threat to the "purity" of Christian teachings. The scientists of the Alexandria Academy, which was considered the main center of the "secret art", were also persecuted. This is evidenced by the sad history of the Alexandria Academy, its university, museum and library.

Back in 47 BC. BC, during the siege of Alexandria by Julius Caesar, the Museum of the Academy burned down, which housed most of the library (about 400,000 volumes). Another part of the library (up to 300,000 volumes), kept in the temple of Serapis (the later name of the god Osiris, or Jupiter), survived. The Emperor Antoninus, in return for the burnt part of the library, presented Cleopatra with the Egyptian Library of Pergamon in 200,000 volumes. In 385, fanatical Christians led by Archbishop Theophilus destroyed the temple of Serapis, and in 390 the books stored in this temple perished. In 415, at the direction of Patriarch Kirill, the Academy University was destroyed, and many professors and scientists were killed, including the famous Hypatia. Finally, in 640, with the capture of Alexandria by the Arabs, the remains of the library perished, and the Alexandrian Academy ceased to exist.

What are the results of the development of chemical art in the era of the Alexandrian Academy, which existed for almost 1000 years? First of all, it should be noted the significant expansion of chemical-technical knowledge and artisan-chemical experience in this era. The knowledge accumulated by ancient Egyptian artisans and priests in metallurgy, dyeing, pharmacy and other fields passed to the Greeks, and then to Rome and to other peoples of the Mediterranean coast. The very nature of the crafts has changed. In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, as well as in Alexandria, along with single craft workshops, there were so-called factories, in which tens and even hundreds of artisan slaves worked. At such factories, the experience of individual craftsmen was mastered, summarized and improved.

Significant advances have been made in the production of various metal alloys, especially copper ones. Alloys with various colors and shades of colors have become widespread. The technique of metal coatings (gilding, silvering, copper plating, tinning, etc.) was developed and improved, as well as the technique of “painting” the surfaces of precious metals with the help of appropriate chemicals.

The craft of dyeing fabrics and other products and the production of various dyes developed. In addition to the mineral and vegetable dyes known in Ancient Egypt and other countries of the ancient world, new natural dyes were introduced into practice in this era, especially dyes that give a purple color. Dyes and recipes for dyeing techniques are described in recipe collections compiled in the era of the Alexandrian Academy and included in later European collections in an expanded form.

The range of chemicals used by artisans in production has significantly increased. Substances previously known only in Egypt became widespread. In the recipe collections of the era of the Alexandrian Academy, substances belonging to various classes of mineral chemistry are mentioned: natron (soda), potash, alum, vitriol, borax, vinegar, copperhead, white lead, red lead, cinnabar, soot, iron oxides, oxides and sulfides arsenic, seven metals of antiquity and many others.

However, along with the development of practical handicraft chemistry and chemical technology, with the expansion and improvement of chemical knowledge in the Alexandrian era, another, practically sterile, branch of chemistry developed - the "secret art", which aimed to find ways to artificially obtain precious metals and stones. This "secret art", which did not go beyond the walls of ancient temples in the pre-Hellenistic era in Egypt and was entirely under the jurisdiction of the priests, found many followers from various segments of the population of Alexandria and other Mediterranean cities. Representatives of the "secret art", as a rule, no longer belonged to the number of practical chemists and despised the craft and artisans. They were mainly seekers of happiness and easy enrichment.

Over time, in search of ways of transmutation (transformation) of metals, the "secret art" was more and more detached from practice and closed within the framework of the obsession that the ancient philosophers possessed the secret of transmutation and that this secret was lost or encrypted in ancient manuscripts and could be restored through prayers and spells. This secret was presented in the form of some kind of supernatural agent, in the presence of which, when simply melted, base metals instantly turn into real gold. Already in ancient times, this remedy received various names: "philosopher's stone", "red stone", "panacea", etc. He was also credited with the miraculous properties of an all-healing medicine capable of returning youth to old people. Not finding real ways to prepare the philosopher's stone and implement the transmutation of metals, representatives of the "secret art" either were satisfied with the development of simple methods of crude forgery of metals, or tried on the basis of the philosophical teachings of the Gnostics and Neoplatonists with the help of astrology, magic, kabbalism, as well as spells, summoning spirits, prayers, fortune-telling, etc. to achieve a solution to a fantastic problem. At the same time, wishing to hide the failure of their searches, adherents of the "secret art" often mystified their like-minded people, claiming that they had finally found the lost secret of the ancient sages. In order to mystify and hide the truth, they widely used symbolism, ciphers, mysterious figures, various designations of substances that they only understand, fantastic combinations of words and letters to express an imaginary secret, kabbalistic combinations of numbers, etc. All these methods of adherents of "secret art "Were later assimilated and even developed by European alchemists.

As for the real methods of making artificial gold, which can be judged by the writings that have come down to us since the existence of the Alexandrian Academy, they most often boiled down to the manufacture of gold-like alloys or alloys painted outside in a golden color. Here is a description of the sequential operations of making artificial gold:

1. Tetrasomy (from the Greek - "four" and - "body") - the manufacture of an initial alloy of four metals: tin, lead, copper and iron. According to the authors of the descriptions, this quaternary alloy, colored black due to oxidation from the surface, had the properties of earth. When heated, it melted, acquiring the properties of water.

2. Argyropeia, or silver making (from the Greek - "silver", I do) - bleaching of the tetrasomy product by fusion with arsenic and mercury, as a result of which the alloy, as it was believed, acquires the properties of silver.

3. Chrysopea (from the Greek - "gold") - the main operation is the transformation of prepared silver into gold by the action on the alloy obtained as a result of argyropea, sulfur compounds and "sulfuric water". Previously, a certain amount of real gold was added to the alloy, which was supposed to serve as a "leaven" during the transformation.

4. Ios and s (58) ("languishing", "fermentation") - finishing of the obtained product by painting the surface of the finished alloy using alum etching or fumigation (languishing) in a special device called "kerotakis" (59).

However, in the literature of that time, other recipes for chrysopeia are also given: by, for example, gilding, treating the metal surface with various reagents, etc.

The "secret art" of obtaining counterfeit gold and counterfeit gemstones flourished in Alexandria, regardless of the development of artisan practical chemistry, which continued to progress. With the passage of time, the connections of the "secret art" with practice, primarily with metallurgy, were weakened more and more and in the first centuries of our era were completely broken.

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The variety of methods for studying the composition and technology of ancient materials becomes difficult to understand. Let us briefly consider the most widely known and tested methods.

The choice of this or that method of studying the composition of ancient objects is dictated by historical and archaeological problems. Such problems are generally few, but they can be solved by different means.

Metal in the form of alloys, ceramics and fabrics are the first artificial materials deliberately created by man. There are no such materials in nature. The creation of metal alloys, ceramics and fabrics marked a qualitatively new stage in technology: the transition from the appropriation and adaptation of natural materials to the manufacture of artificial materials with predetermined properties.

When studying the composition of ancient materials, the following questions are usually considered. Is this item made on site or away from the place of discovery? If in the distance, is it possible to indicate the place where it was made? Is this composition of a material, such as an alloy of some metals, intentional or accidental? What was the technology of this or that production process? What was the level of labor productivity when using one or another technique for processing stone, bone, wood, metal, ceramics, glass, etc.? For what purpose were these or those weapons used? These and other similar questions can be answered based mainly on two types of research: analysis of matter and physical modeling of ancient technological processes.

ANALYSIS OF SUBSTANCE

The most accurate of the traditional methods for analyzing a substance is chemical analysis. The test substance is processed in various solutions in which certain constituent elements fall out in the form of a precipitate. Then the precipitate is calcined and weighed. For such an analysis, a sample of at least 2 g is required. It is clear that not every object can be separated from such a sample without destroying it. Chemical analysis is very laborious, and an archaeologist needs to know the composition of hundreds and thousands of items. In addition, a number of elements present in this subject in
scanty amounts, chemically practically not determined.

Optical spectral analysis. If a small amount of a substance of 15-20 mg is burned in the flame of a volt arc and passing the light of this arc through a prism, then projecting it onto a photographic plate, then a spectrum will be recorded on the developed plate. In this spectrum, each chemical element has its own strictly defined place. The more its concentration in a given object, the more intense the spectral line of this element will be. The concentration of the element in the burned sample is determined from the line intensity. Spectral analysis allows you to capture very small impurities, of the order of 0.01%, which is very important for some of the issues that arise before an archaeologist. Of course, only the most general principle of spectral analysis is presented here. Its practical implementation is carried out using special equipment and requires certain skills. Instruments for spectral analysis are commercially available. The analysis technique is not so complicated, and if desired, the archaeologist masters it in a fairly short time. At the same time, a very unproductive intermediate link is excluded, when an archaeologist who is not versed in the technique of analysis must explain his tasks to a sectralist who is poorly guided in archeology. Therefore, the ideal situation seems to be when a professional spectator working in a scientific team of archaeologists gets so used to archaeological problems that he himself can formulate tasks for studying the composition of ancient materials.

Spectral analysis of archaeological finds yielded many interesting results.

Ancient bronze. The most important studies using spectral analysis relate to the origin and distribution of the ancient metallurgy of copper and bronze. They made it possible to move from approximate visual assessments (copper, bronze) to precise quantitative characteristics of alloy components and to the selection of various types of copper-based alloys.

More recently, it was believed that the metallurgy of copper and bronze originated from Mesopotamia, Egypt and southern Iran, where it was known from the 4th millennium BC. e. Mass production of analyzes of bronze objects made it possible to raise the question not of regions, but of specific ancient mine workings, to which it is possible, with a certain probability, to "tie" certain types of alloys. Ore from each deposit has a specific set of trace impurities inherent only to this deposit. When smelting ore, the composition and amount of these impurities may vary slightly, but can be taken into account. Thus, it is possible to obtain certain "marks" characterizing the characteristics of the metals of a particular deposit or group of deposits, mining centers. The characteristics of such mining centers as the Balkan-Carpathian, Caucasian, Ural, Kazakhstan, Central Asian are well known.

At present, the oldest traces of copper smelting and processing and lead products have been found in Asia Minor (Chatal-Huyuk, Khadzhilar, Cheyunu-Tepesi, etc.). They date back at least a thousand years earlier than similar finds from Mesopotamia and Egypt.

Analysis of the materials obtained during excavations at the Ai-Bunar copper mine, the oldest in Europe (on the territory of modern Bulgaria), showed that already in the IV millennium BC. Europe had its own source of copper. Bronze products were made from ores mined in the Carpathians, the Balkans and the Alps.

On the basis of a statistical analysis of the composition of ancient bronze objects, it was possible to establish the main directions of the evolution of the technology of bronze itself. Tin bronze did not appear in most mining and metallurgical centers immediately. It was preceded by arsenic bronze. Alloys of copper with arsenic could be natural. Arsenic is present in a number of copper ores and is partially converted into metal during smelting. It was believed that the impurity of arsenic deteriorates the quality of the bronze. Thanks to the massive spectral analysis of bronze objects, a curious pattern was established. Items intended for use under conditions of strong mechanical stress (spearheads, arrows, knives, sickles, etc.) had an arsenic impurity in the range of 3-8%. Items that should not have experienced any mechanical stress during use (buttons, plaques and other jewelry) had an arsenic impurity of 8-15%. In certain concentrations (up to 8%), arsenic plays the role of an alloying additive: it gives high strength to bronze, although the appearance of such a metal is inconspicuous. If the concentration of arsenic is increased above 8-10%, bronze loses its strength qualities, but acquires a beautiful silvery hue. In addition, at a high concentration of arsenic, the metal becomes more fusible and fills well all the recesses of the casting mold, which cannot be said about tough, rapidly cooling copper. The fluidity of the metal is important when casting complex jewelry. Thus, indisputable evidence was obtained that the ancient craftsmen knew the properties of bronze and were able to obtain metal with predetermined properties (Fig. 39). Of course, this took place in conditions that had nothing to do with our ideas about metallurgical production with its precise recipes, express analyzes, etc. For all ancient peoples, blacksmithing was fanned with an aura of magic and mystery. Throwing bright red pebbles of realgar or golden-orange pieces of oripigment containing significant concentrations of arsenic into the smelting furnace, the ancient metallurgist most likely realized this as some kind of magical effect with "magic" stones that have a revered red color. The experience of generations and intuition told the ancient master what additives and in what quantities are needed in the manufacture of things intended for various purposes.

In a number of regions where there were no reserves of arsenic or tin, bronze was obtained in the form of an alloy of copper and antimony. Thanks to spectral analysis, it was possible to establish that Central Asian craftsmen, at the turn of our era, were able to obtain such an alloy, which in composition and properties was very close to modern brass. Thus, among the items found during the excavations of the Tulkhar burial ground (2nd century BC - 1st century AD, Southern Tajikistan), there were many earrings, buckles, bracelets and other brass items.

Spectral analysis of a large number of bronze items from Scythian sites in Eastern Europe indicated that the recipe for Scythian bronze alloys does not show continuity from the previous Late Bronze Age cultures of the region. At the same time, there are things here, the composition of the alloys of which is similar in composition of concentrations to the alloys of the eastern regions (Southern Siberia and Central Asia). This serves as an additional argument in favor of the hypothesis of the eastern origin of the Scythian type culture.

With the help of spectral analysis, it is possible to study the nature of the propagation in time and space of not only bronze, but also other materials. In particular, there is a successful experience in the study of the distribution of flint in the Neolithic era, as well as glass and ceramics in different historical periods.

In recent years, the role of modern, and for archeology - new research methods has been increasing in the practice of archaeological research.

Stable isotopes. Just as the aforementioned trace impurities in ancient metals, flint, ceramics and other materials are natural marks, a kind of "passports", about the same role in some cases is played by the ratio of stable, ie, non-radioactive, isotopes in some substances.

On the territory of Attica and on the islands of the Aegean Sea, during excavations of monuments of the Eneolithic and the Early Bronze Age (IV-III millennia BC), silver items are found. During the excavation of Mycenaean mine tombs by Schliemann (16th century BC), silver objects of clearly Egyptian origin were found. These and other observations, in particular the well-known ancient silver mines in Spain and Asia Minor, became the basis for the conclusion that the ancient inhabitants of Attica did not mine their silver, but imported it from these centers. This opinion was generally accepted in Western European archeology until very recently.

In the mid-70s, a group of English and German physicists and archaeologists began a cycle of research into ancient mines in Lavrion (near Athens) and on the islands of Sifnos, Naxos, Syroe, and others. The physical foundations of the research were as follows. Ancient silver items contain lead impurities due to imperfect cleaning methods. Lead has four stable isotopes with atomic weights of 204, 206, 207 and 208. After smelting from the ore, the isotopic composition of the lead originating from a given deposit remains constant and does not change during hot and cold working, corrosion or fusion with other metals. The ratio of isotopes in a given sample is recorded with great accuracy by a special instrument - a mass spectrometer. If you find out the isotopic composition of samples of various ores originating from certain mines, and then compare them in isotopic composition with samples of silver items, you can accurately indicate the source of the metal for each item.

Ancient mines have been exploited for centuries and millennia, and in this case it was important to know which of the more than 30 surveyed ancient deposits, silver-lead minerals were mined in the Bronze Age. On the basis of C14 and the thermoluminescence of ceramics, it was possible to date individual workings dating back to the end of the 4th-3rd millennium BC. e. Then ore samples from these workings were subjected to mass spectroscopic study for lead. Lead isotopic ratios in samples from different ancient workings were distributed over non-overlapping areas, indicating the “marks” inherent in each deposit (Fig. 50). Then the ratio of isotopes in the silver objects themselves was analyzed. The results were surprising. All items were made from local silver, originating either from Lavrion or from the island mines, mainly from the island of Sifnos. As for the Egyptian silver objects found at Mycenae, they were made from silver mined in Lavrion, exported to Egypt. Items made in Egypt from Athenian silver were brought to Mycenae.

A similar problem was considered for identifying marble objects with marble sources. This issue is important from different angles. Greek sculptures or architectural details made of marble are found at a great distance from mainland Greece. Sometimes it is very important to answer the question of what kind of marble, local or imported from Greece, a sculpture, or a column capital, or any other object was made of. Museum collections include modern fakes of antiquity. They need to be identified. The sources of marble for this or that structure need to be known to restorers, etc.

The physical bases are the same: stable isotope mass spectrometry, but instead of lead, the ratio of carbon isotopes, 2C and 13C, and oxygen, 80 and 160, is measured.
The main deposits of marble in ancient Greece were in the mainland (mountains Pentelikon and Hymettus near Athens) and on the islands of Naxos and Paros. It is known that the Parian marble quarries, or rather the mines, are the most ancient. Measurements of marble samples from quarries and measurements of samples from ancient sculptures (non-destructive analysis: a sample of tens of milligrams is required) and architectural details made it possible to link them together (Fig. 51).

Similar results can be obtained by conventional, petrographic or chemical analysis. For example, it was found that the samples of Gandhara sculpture kept in the museums of Taxila, Lahore, Karachi, London, were made from stone quarried in the Swat Valley in Pakistan, in the Mardai district near the Takht-i-Bahi monastery. However, mass spectrometer analysis is more accurate and less time consuming.

Neutron activation analysis (NAA). Neutron activation analysis is, perhaps, the most powerful and effective means of determining the chemical composition of an object at once from a long series of elements. Plus it's non-destructive analysis. Its physical essence is

Figure: 51. Comparison of marble samples from architectural details and sculptures with samples from quarries:
1 - the island of Naxos; 2 - Paros island; 3 - Mount Pentelikon; 4 - Mount Gimmettus; 5 - samples from monuments

that when any substance is irradiated with neutrons, the reaction of radiative capture of neutrons by the nuclei of the substance occurs. As a result, the excited nuclei have their own radiation, and each chemical element has its own energy and has its own specific place in the energy spectrum. In addition, the greater the concentration of a given element in a substance, the more energy is emitted in the spectrum of this element. Outwardly, the situation is similar to what we observed when considering the fundamentals of optical spectral analysis: each element has its own place in the spectrum, and the degree of blackening of the photographic plate in a given place depends on the concentration of the element. Unlike others, neutron activation analysis has a very high sensitivity: it records millionths of a percent.

In 1967, an exhibition of Sassanian silver was organized at the Museum of Art at the University of Michigan (USA), which collected items from various museums and private collections. Basically, these were silver dishes with chased images of various scenes: Sassanian kings on the hunt, at feasts, epic heroes, etc.). Experts suspected that among the true masterpieces of Sassanian toreutics there are modern forgeries. Neutron activation analysis showed that more than half of the exhibits were made of modern silver of such a purified composition that was unattainable in ancient times. But this is, so to speak, a gross fake, and such a fake is now very easy to detect by its chemical composition. But among the objects of this exhibition were dishes that, although they differed from the original ones in their chemical composition, were not so much as to be recognized as fakes only on this basis. Experts believe that in this case, a more sophisticated fake cannot be ruled out. For the manufacture of the dish itself, scrap of ancient silver could be used. Moreover, even individual embossed overhead details could be genuine, and the rest of the composition - skillfully forged. This is indicated by some stylistic and iconographic subtleties, which are noticeable only to the experienced eye of a professional art critic or archaeologist. An important conclusion for an archaeologist follows from this example: any, the most perfect physical and chemical analysis should be combined with cultural-historical and archaeological research.

Archaeological problems of different levels are solved by the neutron activation method. For example, a deposit was established in which huge monoliths of ferruginous quartzite were mined for the manufacture of giant statues (15 m in height) of the temple complex of Amenhotep III in Thebes (15th century BC). Several deposits were under suspicion, located at different distances from the complex: from approximately 100 to 600 km. Based on the concentration of some elements, especially the extremely low content of europium (1-10%), it was possible to establish that the monoliths for the statues were delivered from the most remote quarry, where quartzite of a sufficiently homogeneous structure suitable for processing was mined.

For all its attractiveness, the neutron activation method cannot yet be considered generally available to the archaeologist, the same as, for example, spectral analysis or metallography. In order to obtain the energy spectrum of a substance, it needs to be irradiated in a nuclear reactor, and this is not very affordable and expensive. When it comes to verifying the authenticity of a masterpiece, this is a one-act study, and in this case, as a rule, the costs of expertise are not considered. But if in order to solve ordinary current scientific problems an archaeologist needs to analyze hundreds or thousands of samples of ancient bronze, ceramics, silicon and other materials, the neutron activation method turns out to be too expensive.

ANALYSIS OF THE STRUCTURE

Metallography. The archaeologist often has questions about the quality of metal products, their mechanical properties, about the methods of their manufacture and processing (casting in an open or closed mold, with fast or slow cooling, hot or cold forging, welding, carburizing, etc.). The answers to these questions are given by metallographic research methods. They are very diverse and not always readily available. At the same time, quite satisfactory results in various fields of archeology were obtained by a relatively simple method.
microscopic examination of thin sections. After some training this method can be mastered by the archaeologist himself. Its essence lies in the fact that various methods of processing iron, bronze and other metals leave their "traces" in the structure of the metal. A polished section of a metal product is placed under a microscope and the technique of its manufacture or processing is determined by distinguishable "traces".

Important results were obtained in the field of metallurgy and the processing of iron and steel. In Hallstatt time, the basic skills of plastic processing of iron appeared in Europe, rare attempts to make steel blades by carburizing iron and hardening it. The imitation of bronze objects in shape is well noticeable, just as in their time bronze axes inherited the shape of stone ones. The metallographic study of iron products of the subsequent La Tene era showed that at that time the technology of steel production was already fully mastered, including rather complex methods of obtaining welded blades with a high quality cutting surface. Recipes for making steel products with little or no changes passed through all Roman times and had a definite impact on the level of blacksmithing in early medieval Europe.

The Scythian-Sarmatian cultures of Eastern Europe, synchronous to the late hallstatt and latene, also possessed many secrets of steel production. This is shown by a series of works by Ukrainian archaeologists who widely used metallography methods.
Metallographic analysis of copper products from the Tripolye culture made it possible to establish the sequence of improving the technology of copper processing over a long period of time. At first it was the forging of native copper or metallurgical, smelted from pure oxide minerals. The early Tripolye masters apparently did not know the casting technology, but they achieved great success in the technique of forging and welding. Casting with additional forging of working parts appears only in the late Tripoli time. Meanwhile, the southwestern neighbors of the early Trypillians - the tribes of the Karanovo VI culture - Gumelnitsa already owned different methods of casting in an open and closed form.

Of course, the most significant results are obtained by combining metallographic studies with other methods of analysis: spectral, chemical, X-ray diffraction, etc.

Petrographic analysis of stone and ceramics. Petrographic analysis is similar in its technique to metallographic analysis. The initial object of analysis in both cases is a thin section, that is, a polished section of an object or its sample, placed under a microscope. The structure of this rock is clearly visible under a microscope. The nature, size, number of different grains of certain minerals determine the characteristics of the studied material, according to which it can be "tied" to a particular deposit. It's about the stone. The sections obtained from the ceramics allow the determination of the mineralogical composition and microstructure of the clay, and the parallel analysis of the clay from the alleged ancient quarries allows the identification of the product with the raw material.

When referring to petrographic analysis, a clear formulation of the questions to which the archaeologist wants an answer is necessary. Petrographic research is rather laborious. It requires the manufacture and study of a fairly large number of thin sections, which is expensive. Therefore, such studies, as well as all the others, are not done "just in case." We need a clear statement of the question to which they want to get an answer using petrographic analysis.

For example, in the petrographic study of Neolithic tools found at sites and in graves in the lower reaches of the Tom River and in the Chulym basin, specific questions were posed: did the inhabitants of these micro-districts use raw materials from local sources or from remote ones? Was there an exchange of stone products between them? The analysis was carried out on more than 300 thin sections taken from various stone tools from stone deposits in the area. Investigation of thin sections showed that approximately two thirds of the total number of stone tools were made from local raw materials (silicified siltstones). Some abrasive tools are made from local rocks of sandstone and shale. At the same time, individual adzes, chippers and other items were made from rocks that have deposits on the Yenisei and Kuznetsk Ala-Tau (serpentine, jasper-like silicite, etc.). Based on these facts, it could be concluded that the bulk of the guns were made from local raw materials, and the exchange was insignificant. The answer to this kind of questions can be obtained by other methods, for example, spectral or neutron activation.

Unlike the inhabitants of the valleys of the Tom and Chulym rivers, the Neolithic tribes of Asia Minor actively exchanged tools or blanks made of obsidian. This was established using spectral analysis of the tools themselves and samples of obsidian deposits, which clearly differed among themselves in the concentration of elements such as barium and zirconium.

The analysis of the structure of ancient materials should also include the study of fabrics, leather, wood products, which makes it possible to identify special technological methods inherent in a given culture or period. For example, the study of the tissues found during the excavations of Noin-Ula, Pazyryk, Arzhan, Mosheva Balka and other monuments made it possible to establish the paths of ancient economic and cultural ties with very remote regions.

EXPERIMENTAL MODELING OF ANCIENT TECHNOLOGIES

Analysis of substance and structure allows you to learn about the composition and technology of ancient materials and answer various questions of a cultural and historical nature. However, here, too, an integrated approach is needed, a combination with other methods. The greatest completeness of understanding of many production processes is achieved by means and methods of physical modeling of ancient technologies. This trend in archeology has now become widespread under the name "experimental archeology".

Along with archaeological expeditions that conduct excavations of ancient monuments, in recent years, completely unusual archaeological expeditions have been created in universities and scientific institutions of the USSR, Poland, Austria, Denmark, England, the USA and other countries. Their main goal is to find out in practice, empirically, certain problems of reconstruction of the way of life and the level of technology of ancient collectives. Students and graduate students, professors and scientists make stone axes, chop poles and logs with them, build dwellings and corrals for livestock, exact likenesses of dwellings and other structures studied during excavations. They live in such dwellings, using only those tools and means of labor that existed in ancient times, mold and burn pottery, melt metal, cultivate arable land, raise livestock, etc. All this is recorded in detail, analyzed and generalized. The results are interesting and sometimes unexpected. The works of S. A. Semenov and his students made it possible to put hypotheses about the level of labor productivity in primitive communities under the strict control of the experiment. Labor productivity is one of the main measures of progress in all periods of history. Scientists' ideas about labor productivity in the Stone Age were highly speculative. In old textbooks, you can find the phrase that the Indians polished a stone ax for so long that sometimes a whole life was not enough for it. S. A. Semenov showed that, depending on the hardness of the rock, this operation took from 3 to 25 hours. It turned out that the performance of the Tripolye sickle made of flint inserts is only slightly inferior to the modern iron sickle. The residents of the Tripolye village could, four of them, harvest ear crops per hectare in about three light days.

Experienced smelting of bronze and iron made it possible to understand in more detail a number of "secrets" of ancient craftsmen, to make sure that some of the technological methods and skills of foundry workers and blacksmiths were not in vain covered with an aura of magic. Soviet, Czech and German archaeologists have tried many times to get a crouton from the spongy iron smelted in a damp-blown forge, but no sustainable result has been achieved. Experimental smelting of copper-tin ore from ancient workings in the Fann Mountains (Tajikistan) showed that in some cases ancient foundry workers were engaged not so much in the selection of alloy components as in the use of ores with natural associations of different metals. It is possible that Bactrian brass is also the result of using a special ore with a natural composition of copper-tin-zinc-lead.

On this day:

Birthdays 1936 Born Boris Nikolaevich Mozolevsky - Ukrainian archaeologist and writer, candidate of historical sciences, widely known as a researcher of Scythian burial monuments and the author of the find of a golden pectoral from a burial mound Fat grave. Death Days 1925 Died Robert Koldeway - German architect, architectural historian, teacher and archaeologist, one of the largest German archaeologists involved in Middle Eastern archeology. He identified the site and, with the help of excavations that lasted from 1898-1899 to 1917, confirmed the existence of the legendary Babylon. 2000 Died - a famous Soviet historian, archaeologist and ethnographer, Moscow scholar. The first leader of the Moscow archaeological expedition (1946-1951). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation (1992).