Greatest Moments in Materials Science and Engineering

About JOM

Published monthly by The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) (a member-based professional society), JOM is a technical journal devoted to exploring the many aspects of materials science and engineering.

The Top One Hundred Candidates
Below are the 100 candidate material moments that on-line voters ranked to create the official list of 50 Greatest Materials Moments.

Date	Candidate Moment	Significance
28,000 BC (estimated)	The earliest fired ceramics--in the form of animal and human figurines, slabs, and balls--(found at sites in the Pavlov Hills of Moravia) are manufactured starting about this time.	Introduces materials processing.
8000 BC (estimated)	The earliest form of metallurgy begins with the decorative hammering of copper by Old World Neolithic peoples.	Leads to the replacement of stone tools with much more durable and versatile copper ones.
5000 BC (estimated)	In and around modern Turkey, people discover that liquid copper can be extracted from malachite and azurite and that the molten metal can be cast into different shapes.	Introduces extractive metallurgy--the means of unlocking the Earth's mineralogical treasures.
3500 BC (estimated)	Egyptians smelt iron (perhaps as a by-product of copper refining) for the first time, using tiny amounts mostly for ornamental or ceremonial purposes.	Unlocks the first processing secret of what will become the world's dominant metallurgical material.
3000 BC (estimated)	Metal workers in the region of modern Syria and Turkey discover that addition of tin ore to copper ore before smelting produces bronze.	Establishes the concept of metals alloying--blending two or more metals to create a substance that is greater than the sum of its parts.
2200 BC (estimated)	The peoples of northwestern Iran invent glass.	Introduces the second great nonmetallic engineering material (following ceramics).
1500 BC (estimated)	Potters in China craft the first porcelain using kaolin.	Begins a long tradition of exceptional craftsmanship and artistry with this class of ceramics.
1500 BC (estimated)	Metal workers in the Near East develop the art of lost-wax casting.	Establishes the ability to create and replicate intricate and complex metallurgical structures.
300 BC (estimated)	Metal workers in south India develop crucible steel making.	Produces "wootz" steel which becomes famous as "Damascus" sword steel hundreds of years later, inspiring artisans, blacksmiths, and metallurgists for many generations to come.
200 BC (estimated)	Chinese metal workers develop iron casting.	Introduces the primary approach to manufacturing iron objects for centuries in China.
100 BC (estimated)	Glass blowing is developed, probably somewhere in the region of modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel--most likely by Phoenicians.	Enables the quick manufacture of large, transparent, and leak-proof vessels.
400 (estimated)	Iron smiths forge and erect a seven meter high iron pillar in Delhi, India.	Defies deleterious environmental effects for more than one and a half millennia, creating an artifact of long-standing materials science and archaeological intrigue.
1450	Johannes Gutenberg devises a lead-tin-antimony alloy to cast in copper alloy molds to produce large and precise quantities of the type required by his printing press.	Establishes the fundamental enabling technology for mass communication.
1451	Johanson Funcken develops a method for separating silver from lead and copper, ores of which are often mixed in deposits.	Establishes that mining and metals processing operations can recover metals as a by-product of other operations.
1540	Vannoccio Biringuccio publishes De La Pirotechnia.	Provides the first written account of proper foundry practice.
1556	Georgius Agricola publishes De Re Metallica.	Provides a systematic and well-illustrated examination of mining and metallurgy as practiced in the sixteenth century.
1593	Galileo publishes Della Scienza Mechanica ("on mechanical knowledge"), which he writes after he has been consulted regarding shipbuilding problems.	Deals scientifically with the strength of materials.
1668 (estimated)	Anton van Leeuwenhoek develops optical microscopy capable of magnifications of 200 times and greater.	Enables study of the natural world and its structures that are invisible to the unaided eye.
1709	Abraham Darby I discovers that coke can effectively replace charcoal in a blast furnace for iron smelting.	Lowers dramatically the cost of ironmaking (enabling large-scale production) and saves regions from deforestation.
1750	In Britain, the first glue patent is issued (for fish glue, an exceptionally clear adhesive).	Initiates a rapid succession of adhesive developments with natural and then synthetic sources.
1755	John Smeaton invents modern concrete (hydraulic cement).	Introduces the dominant construction material of the modern age.
1805	Luigi Brugnatelli invents electroplating.	Originates the widely employed industrial process for functional and decorative applications.
1807	Sir Humphry Davy develops the process of electrolysis to separate elemental metals from salts, including potassium, calcium, strontium, barium, and magnesium.	Establishes the foundation for electrometallurgy and electrochemistry.
1816	Auguste Taveau develops a dental amalgam from silver coins and mercury.	Enables repeatable and low-cost dental filling material and establishes one of the earliest examples of metallic biomaterials.
1822	Augustin Cauchy presents his theory of stress and strain to the French Academy of Sciences.	Provides the first careful definition of stress as the load per unit area of the cross section of a material.
1827	Friedrich Wöhler isolates elemental aluminum.	Unlocks the most abundant metallic element in the Earth's crust.
1827	Wilhelm Albert develops iron wire rope as hoisting cable for mining.	Presents an exponential leap of large-scale construction and industrial opportunities over the limitations of hemp rope.
1844	Charles Goodyear invents the vulcanization of rubber.	Enables enormous progress in the transportation, electricity, manufacturing, and myriad other industries.
1855	George Audemars patents "artificial silk" created using the fibrous inner bark of a mulberry tree.	Leads to the manufacture of rayon and the era of synthetic fibers, creating sweeping effects on the textiles and materials industries.
1856	Henry Bessemer patents a bottom-blown acid process for melting low-carbon iron.	Ushers in the era of cheap, large tonnage steel, thereby enabling massive progress in transportation, building construction, and general industrialization.
1863	Emile and Pierre Martin develop the Siemens-Martin open-hearth furnace process.	Produces large quantities of basic steel by heating a combination of steel scrap and iron ore with gas burners--helping to make steel the world's most recycled metal.
1863	Henry Clifton Sorby uses light microscopy to reveal the microstructure of steel.	Leads to the use of photomicrography with metals and the science of metallurgy.
1864	Dmitri Mendeleev devises the Periodic Table of Elements.	Introduces the ubiquitous reference tool of materials scientists and engineers.
1867	Alfred Nobel patents dynamite.	Proves of immeasurable assistance in conducting large-scale mining.
1876	J. Willard Gibbs publishes the first part of the two-part paper "On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances."	Provides a basis for understanding modern thermodynamics and physical chemistry.
1878	William Siemens patents the arc-type electric furnace.	Leads to the modern electric arc furnace, which is the principle furnace type for the modern electric production of steel.
1880	Pierre Manhès constructs the first working converter for copper matte.	Initiates the modern period of copper making.
1886	Charles Martin Hall and Paul H é roult independently and simultaneously discover the electrolytic reduction of alumina into aluminum.	Provides the processing foundation for the proliferation of aluminum for commercial applications
1890	Adolf Martens examines the microstructure of a hard steel alloy and finds that, unlike many inferior steels that show little coherent patterning, this steel had many varieties of patterns, especially banded regions of differently oriented microcrystals.	Initiates the use of microscopy to identify the crystal structures in metals and correlate these observations to the physical properties of the material.
1896	Pierre and Marie Curie discover radioactivity.	Marks the beginning of modern-era studies on spontaneous radiation and applications of radioactivity for civilian and military applications.
1898	William Roberts-Austen develops the phase diagram for iron and carbon.	Initiates work on the most significant phase diagram in metallurgy, providing the foundation for the indispensable tool for other material systems.
1900	Johann August Brinell develops a test to estimate the hardness of metals that involves pressing a steel ball or diamond cone against the specimen.	Establishes a reliable (and still commonly used) method to determine the hardness properties of virtually all materials.
1901	Charles Vincent Potter develops the flotation process to separate metallic sulfide minerals from otherwise unusable minerals.	Opens the opportunity for the large-scale recovery of metals from increasingly difficult-to-treat low-grade ores from mining operations.
1904	Leon Guillet develops the alloying compositions of the first stainless steels.	Expands the versatility of steel for use in corrosive environments.
1906	Alfred Wilm discovers the precipitation hardening of aluminum alloys.	Yields the "hard aluminum" duraluminum, the first high-strength aluminum alloy.
1909	Leo Baekeland synthesizes the thermosetting hard plastic Bakelite.	Marks the beginning of the "plastic age" and the modern plastics industry.
1909	William D. Coolidge devises ductile tungsten wire, using a powder metallurgical approach, for use as an energy-efficient, high-lumen lighting filament.	Spurs the rapid expansion of electric lamps and initiates the science of modern powder metallurgy.
1911	Kammerlingh Omnes discovers superconductivity while studying pure metals at very low temperatures.	Forms the basis for modern discoveries in low- and high-temperature superconductors and resulting high-performance applications.
1912	Max von Laue discovers the diffraction of x-rays by crystals.	Creates means to characterize crystal structures and inspires W.H. Bragg and W.L Bragg in developing the theory of diffraction by crystals, providing insight into the effects of crystal structure on material properties.
1912	Albert Sauveur publishes Metallography and Heat Treatment of Iron and Steel.	Promulgates the "processing-structure-properties" paradigm that guides the materials science and engineering field.
1913	Niels Bohr publishes his model of atomic structure.	Introduces the theory that electrons travel in discrete orbits around the atom's nucleus, with the chemical properties of the element being largely determined by the number of electrons in each of the outer orbits.
1918	Jan Czochralski publishes the paper "Ein Neues Verfahren zur Messung des Kristallisationsgeschwindigkeit der Metalle" ("A New Method for the Measurement of the Crystallization Rate of Metals"), in which he describes a method of growing metallic monocrystals.	Becomes the method of choice for growing high-performance materials, such as the silicon crystals used in the semiconductor computer chip industry.
1920	A.A. Griffith publishes "The Phenomenon of Rupture and Flow in Solids," which casts the problem of fracture in terms of energy balance.	Gives rise to the field of fracture mechanics.
1920	Hermann Staudinger publishes work that states that polymers are long chains of short repeating molecular units linked by covalent bonds.	Paves the way for the birth of the field of polymer chemistry.
1923	John B. Tytus invents the continuous hot-strip rolling of steel.	Provides the basis for the inexpensive, large-scale manufacturing of sheet and plate products.
1923	Karl Schroter invents cemented carbides as a class of materials.	Provides the basis for the workhorse materials of the tool and metal-cutting industries.
1925	Cornelius H. Keller patents alkyl xanthates sulfide collectors.	Begins a revolution in sulfide mineral flotation, turning worthless mineral deposits into bonanzas.
1925	Werner Heisenberg develops matrix mechanics and Erwin Schrödinger invents wave mechanics and the non-relativistic Schrödinger equation for atoms.	Forms the basis of quantum mechanics.
1926	Waldo Lonsbury Semon invents plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC).	Becomes one of the world's most versatile and widely used construction materials.
1926	Paul Merica patents the addition of small amounts of aluminum to Ni-Cr alloy to create the first "superalloy."	Leads to the commercialization of the jet engine, along with increased efficiency for modern power turbine machinery.
1927	Clinton Davisson and Lester Germer experimentally confirm the wave nature of the electron.	Provides fundamental work necessary for much of today's solid-state electronics.
1927	Siegfried Junghans perfects a process for the continuous casting of nonferrous metal.	Provides the basis for commercial exploitation of high-volume continuous casting.
1927	Arnold Sommerfeld applies quantum statistics to the Drude model of electrons in metals and develops the free-electron theory of metals.	Supplies a simple model for the behavior of electrons in a crystal structure of a metallic solid and contributes to the foundation of solid-state theory.
1928	Fritz Pfleumer patents magnetic tape.	Establishes the technology and leads to many subsequent innovations for data storage.
1932	Arne Olander discovers the shape-memory effect in an alloy of gold and cadmium.	Leads to the development of the commercial shape-memory alloys that are employed in medical and other applications.
1933	Max Knoll and Ernst Ruska build the first transmission electron microscope.	Accesses new length scales and enables improved understanding of material structure.
1934	Egon Orowan, Michael Polyani, and G.I. Taylor, in three independent papers, propose that the plastic deformation of ductile materials could be explained in terms of the theory of dislocations.	Provides critical insight toward developing the modern science of solid mechanics.
1935	Wallace Hume Carothers, Julian Hill, and other researchers patent the polymer nylon.	Greatly reduces the demand for silk and serves as the impetus for the rapid development of polymers.
1935	Erich Schmid and Walter Boas publish Kristallplastizitaet, which details 15 years of research on plastic deformation of metallic single crystals.	Leads to a much better understanding of plastic deformation, a critical property of metals.
1937	Norman de Bruyne develops the composite plastic Gordon-Aerolite, which consists of high-grade flax fiber bonded together with phenolic resin.	Paves the way for the development of fiberglass.
1937	André Guinier and G.D. Preston independently report the observation of diffuse streaking in age-hardened aluminum-copper alloys.	Leads to the improved understanding of precipitation-hardening mechanisms.
1939	Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann find that they can split the nucleus of a uranium atom by bombarding it with neutrons	Establishes nuclear fission and leads to applications in energy and atomic weapons.
1939	Russell Ohl, George Southworth, Jack Scaff, and Henry Theuerer discover the existence of p- and n-type regions in silicon.	Provides a necessary precursor to the invention of the transistor eight years later.
1940	Wilhelm Kroll develops an economical process for titanium extraction.	Establishes the primary means of producing the high-purity titanium needed for products ranging from high-performance aircraft to corrosion-resistant reactors.
1942	Frank Spedding develops an efficient process for obtaining high-purity uranium from uranium halides.	Enables the development of the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project.
1948	John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain, and William Shockley invent the transistor	Becomes the building block for all modern electronics and the foundation for microchip and computer technology.
1951	Bill Pfann invents zone refining.	Enables the preparation of high-purity materials, such as the improved semiconductors critical for electronic applications.
1952	Nick Holonyak, Jr., develops the first practical visible-spectrum light-emitting diode (LED).	Marks the beginning of the use of III-V alloys in semiconductor devices, including heterojunctions and quantum well heterostructures.
1952	S. Donald Stookey discovers a heat-treatment process for transforming glass objects into fine-grained ceramics.	Leads to the introduction of Pyroceram and CorningWare.
1953	A team in Sweden produces the first artificial diamonds by using high heat and pressure.	Gives rise to the industrial diamond industry, with applications in machining, electronics, and a variety of other areas.
1954	Gerald Pearson, Daryl Chapin, and Calvin Fuller unveiled the Bell Solar Battery--the world's first device to successfully convert useful amounts of sunlight directly into electricity.	Serves as the very foundation for solar energy production as well as photo-detector technology.
1956	Peter Hirsch and coworkers provide experimental verification by transmission electron microscopy of dislocations in materials.	Not only is dislocation theory verified unequivocally, but the power of transmission electron microscopy in materials research is demonstrated.
1958	Jack Kilby integrates capacitors, resistors, diodes, and transistors into a single germanium monolithic integrated circuit or "microchip."	Makes possible microprocessors and, thereby, high-speed, efficient, convenient, affordable, and ubiquitous, computing and communications systems.
1958	Frank VerSnyder develops the directionally solidified columnar-grained turbine blade	Enables performance enhancements for jet engines, saving airlines millions of dollars per year in fuel costs alone.
1959	Pol Duwez uses rapid cooling to make a gold-silicon alloy that remains amorphous at room temperature.	Represents the first true metallic glass, which has been applied in transformer cores and offers significant potential.
1959	Richard Feynman presents "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" at a meeting of the American Physical Society	Introduces the concept of nanotechnology (while not naming it as such).
1959	Arthur Robert von Hippel publishes Molecular Science and Molecular Engineering.	Creates an emerging discipline aimed at designing new materials on the basis of molecular understanding.
1964	Stephanie Kwolek invents the high-strength, low-weight plastic Kevlar.	Improves the performance of tires, boat shells, body armor, components for the aerospace industry, and more.
1965	Cambridge Instruments introduces a commercial scanning electron microscope.	Provides an improved method for the high-resolution imaging of surfaces at greater magnifications and with much greater depth of field than possible with light microscopy.
1966	Karl J. Strnat and coworkers discover magneto-crystalline anisotropy in rare-earth cobalt intermetallic compounds.	Leads to the fabrication of high-performance permanent magnets of samarium-cobalt and, later, neodymium-iron-boron for use in electronic devices and other areas.
1969	Larry Hench and colleagues develop bioactive glass for orthopedic use.	Changes the paradigm in biomaterials to include interfacial bonding of the implant with host tissues.
1970	James Fergason, utilizing the twisted nematic field effect, makes first operating liquid crystal displays.	Completely redefines many products and applications, including computer displays, medical and industrial devices, and the vast array of consumer electronics.
1970	Bob Maurer, Peter Schultz and Donald Keck invent low-loss optical fiber.	Provides the basis for the increased bandwidth that revolutionized telecommunications.
1977	Hideki Shirakawa, Alan MacDiarmid, and Alan Heeger announce the discovery of electrically conducting organic polymers.	Leads to the development of flat panel displays using organic light-emitting diodes, solar panels, and optical amplifiers.
1981	Heinrich Rohrer and Gerd Karl Binnig invent the scanning tunneling microscope.	Provides three-dimensional atomic-scale images of metal surfaces and quickly becomes widely used in research to characterize surface roughness and observe surface defects.
1985	Robert Curl, Jr., Richard Smalley, and Harold Walter Kroto discover that some carbon arranges itself in the form of soccer-ball-shaped molecules with 60 atoms called buckminsterfullerenes or "buckyballs."	Opens the possibility that carbon can assume an almost infinite number of different structures.
1987	Paul Chu creates a superconducting yttrium-barium-copper oxide ceramic.	Opens the possibility of large-scale application of superconducting materials
1989	Don Eigler spells out "IBM" with individual xenon atoms using a scanning tunneling electron microscope	Demonstrates that atoms can be manipulated one by one, the basis for "bottoms-up" production of nanostructures.
1991	Sumio Iijima discovers nanotubes, carbon atoms arranged in tubular structures.	Creates expectations of important structural and nonstructural applications as nanotubes are about 100 times stronger than steel at just a sixth of the weight while also possessing unusual heat and conductivity characteristics.
1991	Eli Yablonovich produces "photonic crystals" by drilling holes in a crystalline material so that light of a certain wavelength cannot propagate in the material.	Forms a basis for the development of "photonic transistors."

About TMS

Headquartered in the United States but international in both its membership and activities, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) is a rare professional organization that encompasses the entire range of materials and engineering, from minerals processing and primary metals production to basic research and the advanced applications of materials.

In support of its Mission statement and Strategic Plan, the society provides forums for the exchange of information; promotes technology transfer; promotes the education and development of current and future professionals; represents the profession in the accreditation of educational programs and in the registration of professional engineers (a U.S.-grounded activity); encourages professionalism, ethical behavior, and concern for the environment; and stimulates a worldwide sense of unity in the profession.