Fascinating Material Science Facts That Will Change How You See the World - Part 2

to fog photographic plates. Uranium glass marbles, beads, and buttons were popular. The radioactivity is minimal—less exposure than airline flights—but the idea of radioactive dinnerware seems insane today. Production ceased during WWII when uranium was needed for weapons. Modern collectors use Geiger counters to authenticate pieces. This history shows how material safety perception evolves. ### Materials That Changed History Certain materials fundamentally altered human civilization, creating cascading changes that shaped the modern world in unexpected ways. Vulcanized rubber enabled the industrial revolution as much as steel. Charles Goodyear's accidental discovery in 1839—dropping rubber mixed with sulfur on a hot stove—created material that stayed flexible in cold and didn't melt in heat. This enabled gaskets, seals, and belts that made steam engines practical. Pneumatic tires made bicycles then automobiles viable. Electrical insulation enabled power distribution. Rubber plantations drove colonialism in Congo and Amazon. Synthetic rubber development during WWII advanced polymer science decades. Without vulcanization, mechanization would have progressed differently. Optical fiber carries 99% of international data despite being just glass. A single fiber transmits 100 terabits per second—equivalent to 25,000 HD movies simultaneously. Total internal reflection allows light to travel 100 kilometers without amplification. Erbium-doped amplifiers boost signals optically without conversion to electricity. Submarine cables contain multiple fibers in steel armor, powering repeaters through copper conductors carrying 10,000 volts. The first transatlantic fiber cable (1988) had capacity equal to 40,000 phone calls; modern cables exceed 250 terabits per second. The internet exists because glass can be made pure enough that you could see through a kilometer-thick window. Concrete enabled urbanization by making tall buildings and massive infrastructure economical. Romans used concrete for aqueducts and buildings, but the recipe was lost during the Dark Ages. Rediscovery of Portland cement in 1824 coincided with industrialization needs. Reinforced concrete, invented in 1849, combined concrete's compression strength with steel's tension strength. This enabled skyscrapers, bridges, and dams impossible with previous materials. Concrete production now exceeds 30 billion tons annually—4 tons per person per year. Cities are literally built from reformed rock, making modern population density possible. Silicon transformed from sand to semiconductor, creating the information age. Pure silicon was curiosity until 1947's transistor invention. The integrated circuit (1958) put multiple transistors on single silicon chips. Moore's Law drove exponential improvement—today's chips contain 50 billion transistors in fingernail area. Silicon's semiconductor properties arise from diamond cubic crystal structure with four valence electrons. Controlled doping creates p-n junctions forming transistors. Photolithography enables features smaller than virus particles. Computing, internet, and artificial intelligence exist because silicon's properties enable switching at gigahertz frequencies. Every aspect of modern life depends on refined sand. Plastic's social impact extends beyond convenience to democratization of goods. Before plastics, many items were luxury goods—combs from ivory, buttons from shell, toys from wood or metal. Plastics made products affordable for everyone. Disposable medical supplies prevented disease transmission. Food packaging reduced waste and enabled global distribution. Synthetic fibers clothed growing populations. While causing environmental problems, plastics lifted living standards globally. The average home contains 50,000 plastic items that would have been impossible or unaffordable with traditional materials. Plastic's true revolution was economic, not just technical.