『The Geology of Fireworks』のカバーアート

The Geology of Fireworks

The Geology of Fireworks

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概要

 This 4th of July, try regaling your fellow revelers with some firework history and, yes, geology. They’ll probably know that fireworks originated in China. But they likely won’t know they started as simple bamboo sticks thrown into a fire. The air inside the hollow stalks expanded, then exploded, making a “crack” that the ancient Chinese used to ward off evil spirits. A few centuries later, legend has it that a kitchen recipe gone awry combined charcoal, saltpeter, and sulfur. Who knows what food they were trying to make…but they created gunpowder. Warlords quickly recognized its military potential. Luckily, firecracker enthusiasts pursued its celebration potential. They filled those same bamboo tubes with gunpowder, to make a far bigger noise, then used more gunpowder to launch ever-larger firecrackers into the air. And fireworks were born. When Marco Polo came to China, he was so impressed that he took fireworks back to Italy, where they’ve been a hit for over 700 years. The Italians were the first to add common minerals like gypsum and calcite to produce colored explosions. The science has come a long way since, now blending in a variety of metal salts and exotic minerals to make better fuels and to add deeper colors and special effects. So when you see a brilliant finale of red, white, and blue, you can shout, “Wow! Celestine, barium oxide, and copper ore!” Then you can blame EarthDate for making you the science nerd at the party.
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