Ceramics through the Ages, and Technological Progress

Classic and Advanced Ceramics From Fundamentals to Applications. Robert B. Heimann 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH Co. KGaA, Weinheim ISBN 978-3-527-32517-7 

Ceramics sensu strictu are the oldest man-made materials. By definition, they are inorganic, nonmetaUic, sUicate-based materials, insoluble in water and many acids and alkalis, and contain at least 30% crystalline comjxjunds. In general, ceramics are shaped at ambient temperature from a specific raw materials mix by a large variety of forming techniques and tools (see, for example, Brownell, 1976), and obtain their typical properties by firing beyond 800 °C (Hennicke, 1967). 

In parallel, a second fine of development emerged concerned with technical refractory ceramics for applications in ancient metal-working activities, including 

1) Innovations start new industries inventions are discoveries that are at the base of innovations (Marchetti, 1981). 

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