Europe Middle Ages

Of the various tempera, egg was the most important in European painting, both in wall and panel painting. It was Htde used outside Europe. The main period of its use was in the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. After the sixteenth century, however, it was rarely used, as drying oils (qv) had become the preeminent media. 

Before the invention of the Bessemer process for steelmaking in 1856, only the cementation and cmcible processes were of any industrial importance. Although both of the latter processes had been known in the ancient world, thek practice seems to have been abandoned in Europe before the Middle Ages. The cementation process was revived in Belgium around 1600, whereas the cmcible process was rediscovered in the British Isles in 1740. 

Early records also indicate that cast mouldings were prepared from shellac by the ancient Indians. In Europe the use of sealing wax based on shellac can be traced back to the Middle Ages. The first patents for shellac mouldings were taken out in 1868. 

People love the spectacle of fireworks. From Bastille Day in France to Guy Fawkes Day in Britain, from Chinese New Year to Canada Day, fireworks bring joy to celebrations all around the world. In the United States, about 100 million worth of fireworks are discharged every year in honor of Independence Day. Fireworks date back more than 1000 years to the discovery of black powder in China. This first gunpowder was brought to Europe during the Middle Ages and was used widely in weapons, in construction, and for fireworks. 

The transition from white tin to grey was first noted in Europe during the Middle Ages, e.g. as the pipes of cathedral organs disintegrated, but the process was thought to be the work of the devil. 

Day, J. (1990). Brass and zinc in Europe from the Middle Ages until the 19th Century. In 2000 Years of Zinc and Brass, ed. Craddock, P.T., British Museum Occasional Paper No. 50, British Museum, London, pp. 123-150. 

The Middle Ages, from around ad 400 to 1500, witnessed the decline of the Roman influence. This was also the time when plagues scourged many parts of Europe. Diseases such as bubonic plague, leprosy, smallpox, tuberculosis, and scabies were rampant. Many millions of people succumbed to these diseases. 

Alchemy fell into disrepute in Europe in the Middle Ages because of its obscure symbolism, introduction of irrelevant religious ideas and superstitions, and preoccupation with perfectibility that led to belief in the possibility of the transmutation of metals (as opposed to chemical change). The prospect of changing base metals such as lead into gold attracted all... 

The Middle Ages (400-1500 A.D.) were a time of Arabic and Jewish contributions to the pharmacopeia. The alchemical advances of the Middle East were passed on during the Arabic invasions of Europe of that time. It should be kept in mind that the Far East also had its systems of medicine and pharmacy of which acupuncture and herbalism still remain and are still under investigation in terms of their efficacy and underlying scientific truths. 

Smallpox, however, was not the only disease that wreaked havoc as it traversed the globe. In the Middle Ages, bubonic plague reduced the population of Europe by a third after arriving there from the steppes of Eurasia (McNeil 1976). In the nineteenth century, cholera spread around the globe (McNeil 1976). In the twentieth century, diseases such as influenza, HIV, and SARS have traveled with the speed of jet planes. 

When electrum, alloy of silver and gold, was rejected as not being a distinct substance, tin became attributed to Jupiter, and mercury was permitted to enter the mystic circle and was attributed to the planet Mercury. This classification served as a catalogue and definition of the so-called metals for many centuries, in fact, throughout the middle ages of Europe. 

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