The History of Iron and Steel with Jason Crawford

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Metallic iron was once the stuff of myth, known only in the form of meteorites. Today, in the hardened form of steel, iron is everywhere. What is this metal that is so indispensable to the modern world? Why is it so hard to make? And how did it go from mythical to mundane? This talk will explore the challenges of ironmaking and the solutions humanity has found over the centuries, including the famous Bessemer process that was a watershed of the Industrial Revolution.
Jason Crawford is a software engineering manager, former co-founder & CEO of the startup Fieldbook, and author of the blog “The Roots of Progress”, where he's been writing about the history of technology and industry since 2017.

[@enraikow6109]

This is incredibly underated, as someone who comes from a poorer family that can't afford much, thank you for giving this "ted-talk" for free and easily accessible.

[@DrMustafaArk]

amazing lecture thanks

[@GB-ty2uc]

A great lecture. Thank you. 👍
@ 49:43 There are a few good history books if someone wants to read and appreciate progress: _The Discoverers,_ _The Creators_ and _The Seekers_ by Daniel J. Boorstin.

[@konradcomrade4845]

Fantastic, in 1781 the hypothetical reason for the strength of steel was discovered: Phlogiston! It really takes a deep dive into history and science to get to this amazingly amazing detail.
It shows an example of how an even wrong theory could lead to successful technical innovation and the rise of powers.

[@konradcomrade4845]

There is a lot of mining and iron knowledge in the medieval German book of Georg Agricola.
Also in Technikgeschichte, the leading journal for the history of technology in German and one of the oldest in this field anywhere.

[@konradcomrade4845]

There is one underrated chemistry, even today that influences the quality of steel: Hydrogen_embrittlement! Once the hydrogen got into the iron, You never get it out completely, not even with vacuum smelting/refining.

[@DrMustafaArk]

first steel was pruduced in anatolia around 4000 BCE

[@lepaul26]

How did they discover metal ore and found out they could make metal with it ?

[@user-vw6bk4pb4l]

Perhaps by accident, through being observant, and gradually perfected with experimentation. When humans begin using furnaces, perhaps someone soon observes that some rocks contain a material inside that melts when heated. Like today, there probably have always been a small number of innovative geniuses individuals driving society forwards.
Truth is, nobody knows for sure. But I'm sure scholars have already come up with dozens of models of how this discovery was made.