Origin and Development of Knowledge on Inorganic Materials
(Historical Overview).

Abstract

The evolution of knowledge and inventions that contributed to the science of materials has been studied. It is shown that the development of materials science in the ancient world involved the accumulation of intuitive inventions and the development of crafts. The antiquity created natural philosophy ideas about the nature of matter and the division of organic and inorganic worlds (Democritus, Epicurus, Aristotle). In the early Middle Ages, alchemy was widespread and based on the transmutation of gold into other elements. In spite of the inaccuracy of alchemical ideas, this trend brought some benefits, which contributed to the development of scientific experiment. The New Times marked the rapid development of fundamental sciences that promoted the formation of theoretical and practical materials science. This paper presents the chronology of creating the most important inventions and scientific concepts in a tabular form.