The first hand made objects produced and used by humans were made out of readily available materials, such as bone, wood and stone. However, the first metal tools, which were made out of copper appeared roughly 6,000 years ago. Details about the initial smelting process are still unknown. It is known that humans were acquainted with metals even before they started to make tools out of coper, namely with gold, and silver, but they could not be used for tool-making, since they are too ductile, unlike copper. Soon after they started processing copper, humans discovered that they can mix two or more metals, which enabled them to produce alloys. This is the beginning of the Bronze age.
Tools made out of bronze proved themselves as reliable and durable, greatly expanding the capabilities of the mankind, enabling it to start extracting and processing stone, which rendered them capable of building houses, temples, monuments and other edifices. Despite the fact that copper was readily available and easy to extract, tin was much more difficult to obtain, which made the alloy known as bronze very expensive to produce. However, about 3,500 years ago, humans discovered a new metal called iron, which could be found in abundance, since it comprises roughly 5% of the earth's crust. Hence, mass production of tools and weapons was made possible. However, initially iron-processing required large amounts of charcoal, and starting from the 18th Century, Europe was faced with a shortage of wood. The problem was solved by an Englishman, Abraham Darby, who invented the method of producing iron in blast furnaces, using coke, which is produced from coal. This was the starting point of the industrial revolution. In the 19th Century, scientists found out that they can separate molecules, and make new materials, which could replace the materials extracted from nature. These material are known as plastics, and the first plastic, called Bakelite was unveiled in 1909. After that, a whole array of other new plastic materials appeared, and the quest to produce new kinds of plastics still continues.
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