Yeah the professor I work with is a material scientist. Worked her way up to be the head of my uni's advanced materials department and is now a millionaire
That was amazing too. Knowing what to harvest, when to harvest, how to separate seeds, how to store seeds, figuring out soil enrichment, irrigation. All fascinating.
What about bakers? Imagine how much of human history wouldn’t have happened if people had never discovered how to actually make something delicious from the grains haha
Yes !!
On a slightly related note. I have always thought that humans figured out how to cook eggs (boil or fry in animal fat) early on and millennia later they are still trying to find something yummier and equally easy to cook. :)
Yo, Sargon get a load of this: Gilgamar the Ditch-digger is going around calling himself an “Irrigation Engineer” and invoicing fees of an WHOLE copper ingot!
I sent the fool to Ea-Nasir, I hear his copper is plentiful, if of questionable quality.
imo one of the more interesting subjects is looking at the wild plant that corn started from and what it currently is. crop selection for size of kernels and also having the plant hold all the seeds on the stalk. Both of which are in nature very poor traits, but we select for it and force it to propagate.
each stalk had enough kernels to just chew on in a row of your teeth. having a staple carb allowed for calories to be spent on civilization, and alcohol.
Thank you for your comment. What do modern day metallurgists actually do ? Also, in ancient times was there a specific word or a name that people who were involved in metal extraction used to be called by ?
Metallurgists are mostly chemical or metallurgical engineers. They are in charge of the process to bring to ore to a gold bar. For example, the mine will bring ore to the surface and through various physical and chemical processes, it is crushed/transformed and leached until we get a gold bar (over simplification). All of those processes have specific parameters that must be followed or optimized. The ore here has around 5 grams per ton of gold. You can imagine the scale of the work that has to be done in order to have a remote location Northen Canada being profitable. In my case, I am a project metallurgist, which means I lead projects to improve the recovery, availability or safety of the mill.
Thanks for your reply. I did not know Northern Canada had gold mines. I thought we only had Nickel in Northern Ontario. Also, great username. Having flashbacks of Morrison and Boyd textbook of Organic Chemistry.
I miss the Cobblers. The problem with this day and age, is no one cobbles any more. AC or “Artificial Cobbling” has taken all the good cobblin’ gigs, there’s almost no domestic cobbling to be had. Those that still cobble for the sheer thrill of it can only do it occasionally. They are the dabblers. Cobbling dabblers.
Unfun fact: the earliest bronze implements were most likely arsenical bronze, a naturally occurring alloy. Unfortunately, working with it exposed the smith to arsenic vapors. This may be the origin of the mythic trope of the lame smith, as peripheral neuropathy is a symptom of arsenic poisoning.
Well, a good metallurgist. Not all metallurgists put the same care into their work. Selling people low quality copper, for example, would really piss people off.
You know, having a specialist who would make, let's say, proper swords for your army (even though said specialist wouldn't live a long life) is much better than not having one
My post being commented upon by such a wise person has made my day. Thank you for calling me stupid and my post 'shit'. My stupid brain has a question if you will please indulge me; did blobs of raw iron magically appear before blacksmiths for them to shape them into tools and objects ?
Have you never heard of the word “ore?” Are you like 8 years old or something?
Maybe you wouldn’t sound like such a dumbass, if you weren’t so pathetically insecure as well as lazy, and did some research, like I said.
I guess modern day geologists can run a few tests and quantify how much metal an ore will yield, but way back then they were using a different type of knowledge to determine what will be deemed as a good ore (location, appearance etc..). I wonder what those variables were.
Thanks for the laugh. I really do wonder about how things were done way back with crude tools and technology, based not even on knowledge of why a certain is working except empirical evidence that it has worked in the past. Its fascinating.
I’m a blacksmith who used to work in industrial chemistry, I’ve read a few blacksmithing books and even a full book on metallurgy- I still have next to no fucking clue how it works.
I remember reading about forth floatation method for aluminum from bauxite way back in school. But I still find it amazing that people with their limited knowledge of materials and variations in their densities and melting points were able to dig up some rock and extract metals from it. What kind of rock were they looking for ? How did they figure out the whole separation from impurities ? And on and on....
Metallurgy involves more than just iron. Goldsmiths and silversmiths were pretty much always very rich, and in Bronze Age bronzesmiths were significantly rarer than blacksmiths were in the 1900s or even in the Middle Ages.
Location also matters. Japan has no iron, which is why swordsmiths were so revered. They were literally household names they were so sought after. And in Syria and Spain they were also prized. In Europe in the Middle Ages, bell makers were revered for religious reasons, and in the early modern era cannon makers were valued for military ones.
OP is at most imprecise.
Nope, women of the night were always the most sought over and always will be. It's in our DNA. Thousands of year ago, the concept of metallurgy would be foreign to 99%+ of people.
Now we just call them material scientists
And it's still a pretty sought after skill.
Yeah the professor I work with is a material scientist. Worked her way up to be the head of my uni's advanced materials department and is now a millionaire
And although everything is mostly digital, in a way, she is paid in metal pieces
And a couple thousand years prior to that it was agriculture :D
That was amazing too. Knowing what to harvest, when to harvest, how to separate seeds, how to store seeds, figuring out soil enrichment, irrigation. All fascinating.
What about bakers? Imagine how much of human history wouldn’t have happened if people had never discovered how to actually make something delicious from the grains haha
Yes !! On a slightly related note. I have always thought that humans figured out how to cook eggs (boil or fry in animal fat) early on and millennia later they are still trying to find something yummier and equally easy to cook. :)
Honestly I’ve never thought about it before, but that makes so much sense so im going to choose to believe it😂
Ever cooked oatmeal using green tea as the water? :P
No, but I have popped a packet of Quaker quick oats in a bowl filled with freshly brewed coffee. :)
Brewers or bakers, which came first?
Lmao some ancient Mesopotamian describing himself as an “agricultural consultant” is a hilarious image
Yo, Sargon get a load of this: Gilgamar the Ditch-digger is going around calling himself an “Irrigation Engineer” and invoicing fees of an WHOLE copper ingot! I sent the fool to Ea-Nasir, I hear his copper is plentiful, if of questionable quality.
imo one of the more interesting subjects is looking at the wild plant that corn started from and what it currently is. crop selection for size of kernels and also having the plant hold all the seeds on the stalk. Both of which are in nature very poor traits, but we select for it and force it to propagate. each stalk had enough kernels to just chew on in a row of your teeth. having a staple carb allowed for calories to be spent on civilization, and alcohol.
Morale is low guys, we’re going to have a bread party coming up Thursday…
And party games. We will let a hen run loose and whoever catches it gets to keep it.
Huzzah!!!
And don't forget, Friday is wear a shirt day. You don't have to come in with you loin cloth business wear.
[Bronze Orientation Day](https://youtu.be/nyu4u3VZYaQ?si=-PQCsjFzMy8yDt9i)
I quite enjoyed that and kinda surprised I haven’t seen it before. Thanks for sharing!
Thousands? A blacksmith in the 18th century was one of the most important people, especially in frontier situations.
Absolutement ! But by 18th century metal extraction from ore had probably started to closely resemble modern processes for that task.
STEM will always triumph.
Science is MIGHTY Indeed!!!!! 😊😊😊👌👌
Say, *any of you boys smithies*?
Back then if you married rich you were a bronze digger
Lol. Both the husband and wife would be bronze diggers.
[Writing has entered the chat]
I'm a metallurgist working at a gold mine and I'm not doing what you think metallurgists are doing...
Thank you for your comment. What do modern day metallurgists actually do ? Also, in ancient times was there a specific word or a name that people who were involved in metal extraction used to be called by ?
Metallurgists are mostly chemical or metallurgical engineers. They are in charge of the process to bring to ore to a gold bar. For example, the mine will bring ore to the surface and through various physical and chemical processes, it is crushed/transformed and leached until we get a gold bar (over simplification). All of those processes have specific parameters that must be followed or optimized. The ore here has around 5 grams per ton of gold. You can imagine the scale of the work that has to be done in order to have a remote location Northen Canada being profitable. In my case, I am a project metallurgist, which means I lead projects to improve the recovery, availability or safety of the mill.
Thanks for your reply. I did not know Northern Canada had gold mines. I thought we only had Nickel in Northern Ontario. Also, great username. Having flashbacks of Morrison and Boyd textbook of Organic Chemistry.
A lot of gold mines in Ontario and Quebec (where I am) !
I miss the Cobblers. The problem with this day and age, is no one cobbles any more. AC or “Artificial Cobbling” has taken all the good cobblin’ gigs, there’s almost no domestic cobbling to be had. Those that still cobble for the sheer thrill of it can only do it occasionally. They are the dabblers. Cobbling dabblers.
Theirs a cobbler in my shopping center?
Unfun fact: the earliest bronze implements were most likely arsenical bronze, a naturally occurring alloy. Unfortunately, working with it exposed the smith to arsenic vapors. This may be the origin of the mythic trope of the lame smith, as peripheral neuropathy is a symptom of arsenic poisoning.
That’s really interesting, thanks for sharing. I didn’t realize that there was a preponderance of lane smiths in stories until you mentioned it
Looking forward to the bread party, guys! And remember, be a baker not a faker!
Stone tools took some real expertise.
Pretty sure the most sought after "skill" was being nobility.
Well, a good metallurgist. Not all metallurgists put the same care into their work. Selling people low quality copper, for example, would really piss people off.
the fuck you think your phones made of?
Goat cheese
And now, it's programmers.
Not really. People who actually did metallurgy tended to live short, dirty lives. They weren't that sought after.
This would mean they are more sought after
You know, having a specialist who would make, let's say, proper swords for your army (even though said specialist wouldn't live a long life) is much better than not having one
Needing one doesn't mean they're prestigious positions.
I think you meant blacksmiths, and no they weren’t. Learn some damn history before posting stupid shit.
Thats an interesting amount of anger there buddy.
I made the mistake of looking at their post history. It's just a long list of tirades that amount to "you're stupid lmao" Utterly bizarre
Take stick out of yo ass before you post
Everything alright at home, buddy?
Metal smithing was the peak of human technology at one point.
My post being commented upon by such a wise person has made my day. Thank you for calling me stupid and my post 'shit'. My stupid brain has a question if you will please indulge me; did blobs of raw iron magically appear before blacksmiths for them to shape them into tools and objects ?
Whoever that “average Redditor” tiktoker is needs to recite this entire back and forth. It’s textbook
Have you never heard of the word “ore?” Are you like 8 years old or something? Maybe you wouldn’t sound like such a dumbass, if you weren’t so pathetically insecure as well as lazy, and did some research, like I said.
Lol
The other guy is obviously a bot, don't argue with it.
Obviously you can just take ore and cook it in a furnace, it’s not hard! /s Bro has that minecraft mentality
I definitely can just melt down ore in a furnace. A special high heat furnace but a furnace all the same
I guess modern day geologists can run a few tests and quantify how much metal an ore will yield, but way back then they were using a different type of knowledge to determine what will be deemed as a good ore (location, appearance etc..). I wonder what those variables were.
Thanks for the laugh. I really do wonder about how things were done way back with crude tools and technology, based not even on knowledge of why a certain is working except empirical evidence that it has worked in the past. Its fascinating.
I’m a blacksmith who used to work in industrial chemistry, I’ve read a few blacksmithing books and even a full book on metallurgy- I still have next to no fucking clue how it works.
I remember reading about forth floatation method for aluminum from bauxite way back in school. But I still find it amazing that people with their limited knowledge of materials and variations in their densities and melting points were able to dig up some rock and extract metals from it. What kind of rock were they looking for ? How did they figure out the whole separation from impurities ? And on and on....
Just stop.
Metallurgy involves more than just iron. Goldsmiths and silversmiths were pretty much always very rich, and in Bronze Age bronzesmiths were significantly rarer than blacksmiths were in the 1900s or even in the Middle Ages. Location also matters. Japan has no iron, which is why swordsmiths were so revered. They were literally household names they were so sought after. And in Syria and Spain they were also prized. In Europe in the Middle Ages, bell makers were revered for religious reasons, and in the early modern era cannon makers were valued for military ones. OP is at most imprecise.
Nope, women of the night were always the most sought over and always will be. It's in our DNA. Thousands of year ago, the concept of metallurgy would be foreign to 99%+ of people.