Eighteenth-century early developments

Origins of the science associated with thermal insulations coincide with the development of thermodynamics and the physics associated with heat transfer. These technical subjects date to the eighteenth century. Early obseiwations that a particular material was useful as thermal insulation were not likely guided by formal theoi y but rather by trial and error. Sawdust was used, for example, in the nineteenth centui y to insulate ice storage buildings. 

Systematic studies of membrane phenomena can be traced to the eighteenth century philosopher scientists. For example, Abbn Nolet coined the word osmosis to describe permeation of water through a diaphragm in 1748. Through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, membranes had no industrial or commercial uses but were used as laboratory tools to develop physical/chemical theories. 

Eurther progress was made in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Many metals were discovered upon the development of experimental chemistry. The modem metallurgical industry was bom with the invention of steelmaking in 1856 (see Steel). Industrial processes for making zinc (see Zinc and zinc alloys), aluminum (see Aluminumand aluminum alloys), and copper followed before the end of the nineteenth century. These processes made possible the industrial revolution and the development of an industrial society relying heavily on the use of metals. 

This has been despite the fact that the UK has developed with a culture that is indifferent to engineering, the respectable professions being those such as law or medicine offering more money and prestige. This deeply rooted attitude was supported by an education system in which on the whole applied science - engineering - was not studied in schools or universities. This contrasts with the rest of world, where such studies were an important part of the curricula of many schools and universities as early as the eighteenth century. Engineering was not considered suitable for those with the ability to enter a university, where arts and sciences were studied. 

The content of this book is based on chemical writings of the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century chemists, and my references to recently published secondary works are intended for the benefit of readers who wish to enlarge their contextual perspectives on the development of early chemical thinking. In general I am not attempting to resolve any differences of perspective or interpretation. 

Soft drinks, or to quote their early designation, mineral waters or table waters , appeared as a commercial prospect in the mid-eighteenth century. Consequently, their development towards full-scale production followed hot on the heels of the Industrial Revolution taking place at that time throughout Europe and the Western world. Prior to this, although freshly pressed or squeezed juices were available for direct consumption to comply with the description soft drink , these were inherently unstable if stored, quickly succumbing to yeast attack and resulting fermentation. 

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