THE CHEMISTRY OF FIRE
Formankind,the discoveryoffire and how to use it wasprobablythe single
mostimportanteventthateverhappened.In the beginning man, like hisanimal
companionsonearth,was a victim of hisenvironment.Hehadnoprotection
from the cold weather or from the severe rain andsnowstormsthatgeologists
know must haveoccurredin periods before the beginning of history. Primitive
men were hunters. Theyhadto wanderaboutin searchofanimals for food, so
theycouldn'tsettle down and live in one place. And of course theyhadto goout
andhuntevery day because theycouldn'tvery well stock up on meatwithout
an icebox. While thehunterwas away from the cave he called home, heworried
aboutwild animalsattackinghis family back at the cave. At night not everyone
could sleep, because mostpredatoryanimals are night dwellers,andsomeone
in the family had to stay awake toprotectthe others.
Scientiststhinkthatearly men may have discovered fire in oneoftwo ways.
They may have seen fire resulting from volcanic eruptions. Eruptions are
naturalexplosionsthattake place insidemountains.They eject flames and huge
quantitiesofhotgasesandashes. Or early men may have seen forest fires
caused by lightning. However the discovery offire cameabout, men soon
learnedto useitand became verydependenton it.
Living in a cave with a fire at itsentrance,the family was suddenly safe from
wild animals, because they areafraidof fire andwon'tapproachit. As long as
the fire wasburning,therefore, everyone could sleep. The fireprovidedwarmth,
too, and a stove for cooking meat.
You are certainly awareofthefascinationofa flame.Hardlyanyonecan sit
near a campfire or before an open fireplacewithoutwatching the fireintently..
Butjustwhat is a flame? The only way to discover whatitreally is is to examine
chemically how it isproduced.