WEBVTT - Strike the Match, Part 2 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:09.840 Welcome to Invention, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey, 0:00:09.840 --> 0:00:12.960 welcome to Invention. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:15.840 Joe McCormick, and we're back this week with part two 0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:19.640 of our exploration of fire technology and specifically the Match, 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:25.000 the Humble Match, the enticing Match, the intoxicating Match. Well 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:28.520 I'm getting carried away here. Yes. In our last episode, 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:30.760 we we really covered a lot of ground. We started 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:34.600 with an ancient Earth incapable of sustaining fire, and we 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:38.160 moved on to humanity's earliest uses of the Pilford flame. 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:41.560 From there, we discovered the great leap forward into fire 0:00:41.600 --> 0:00:45.920 creation technology, namely fire drills and flint and pye rite 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:49.519 or flint and steel. And we also talked about fuel 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:54.040 manufactured fuel such as shopping wood and create you know, 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:58.240 creating more suitable types of fuel for your fire, but 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:02.040 also specialized fuel. And this led to little sticks of 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:04.960 wood for moving fire from one place to another and 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:09.039 ultimately the origins of the sulfur match, in which a 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:12.240 little uh, a little piece of wood is then dipped 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:16.280 into sulfur to create a piece of a fuel that 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:19.840 lights up very readily, allows you to transfer fire from 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:22.080 one place to another. Right now. One of the things 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:24.560 we talked about in the last episode and we needed 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:26.880 to make is a very clear distinction, was that the 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:30.840 sulfur match that was very invented in ancient China may 0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:33.480 also have existed in ancient Rome. According to a few 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:38.279 references um there uh that this was a chemical match 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:42.040 and that was used to quickly catch fire. But it 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:44.440 was not a friction match. It was not a match 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:47.319 that you would be able to light by striking it 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:49.720 across the surface. Right. If you were to travel back 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:52.600 in time, uh, you know into two uh to to 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:55.440 China at the time, request to match and an attempt 0:01:55.520 --> 0:01:58.240 to strike it, you would just be a match destroyer. 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:00.920 And people would we wondered, what you're trying to do? 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:03.920 Why are you rubbing? Uh? This the special what was 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:06.920 the term for it? Um the light bringing slaves? Yeah? 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:09.440 Why are you taking our light bringing slaves and just 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:13.200 destroying them against a brick wall? Uh? Yeah. But they 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:15.399 would still be quite useful even though they could only 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:18.880 be ignited by existing heat or flame, because they'd be 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:21.919 useful for say, transferring fire from one place to another. 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:23.760 You want to take fire, say out of a pot 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:26.359 and light a candle or something. Right, Yeah, and one 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:27.920 of the I think the big take comes. Certainly, go 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:29.720 back and listen to that episode of view you haven't, 0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:31.920 but I think one of the big take comes, uh. 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:33.880 And one of the biggest discoveries for me was just 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:38.320 thinking about fire as a process, as a thing that happens, 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:41.640 and then all these fire technologies are ways of managing uh, 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:47.040 that process to transform an event into like a tangible substance. 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:48.919 You know. A lot of times that means sort of 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:52.600 putting the fire in a kind of suspended animation, like 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:57.040 reducing the fire as much as possible without actually extinguishing 0:02:57.040 --> 0:02:59.960 it to make it manageable. And this was also something 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:03.280 we talked about as an ancient technology that existed probably 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:07.519 even before humans had the ability to make their own fires. Uh, 0:03:07.560 --> 0:03:10.880 they had various methods they'd come up with to carry 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:14.480 fire around without it going out. So, for example, we 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:17.400 talked about the possessions of Otsy the Iceman, who was 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:20.480 found in the Italian Alps in ninety one, this neolithic 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:23.240 mummy who was frozen there in the glacier, and one 0:03:23.320 --> 0:03:26.200 of the things he had on him was a little 0:03:26.240 --> 0:03:28.720 container made out of birch bark, that appeared to be 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:31.600 for carrying coals around, So you could take a coal 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:34.320 out of one fire, put it in this little container 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:36.920 rapid in leaves, and you'd have a coal that would 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:39.200 continue to burn for hours in case you need to 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:41.680 make camp really quickly. You know, one thing I kept 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:43.640 thinking about when we were talking about it in the 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:48.640 last episode is Disney Christmas Carol, in which Cratchett played 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:52.000 by Mickey Mouse, brings home a hot coal from Ebenezer 0:03:52.000 --> 0:03:57.960 scroogees uh stove to to light his own stove at home. Oh, 0:03:57.600 --> 0:03:59.960 I don't know if I even remember this. I believe 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:02.760 if that is the case, unless I'm misremembering, there is 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:06.160 any um if it wasn't that it's some other version 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:08.200 of a Christmas Carol that I've seen and it wasn't 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:10.960 doubting that I'm saying, I'm not aware. It's also possible 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:13.400 that it wasn't Cratchett bringing home the code, but perhaps 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:16.640 Scrooge bringing home a hot coal from his office place 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:20.160 to ignite some small fire at his home. He is 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:23.520 all about efficiency. Yeah, but but you know, it makes 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:26.240 a lot more sense now that one really gets down 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:29.240 and considers the pain of having to start a fire. 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:31.320 You know, it makes sense to bring that hot coal 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.520 home if you have the ability to transfer transfer it. Now, 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:36.760 in this episode we are going to be getting into 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:40.839 the origins of the actual friction match. But I started 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:43.440 to wonder. Okay, so we know based on the last 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:46.320 episode that there were several things that were called a 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:50.000 match before the friction match existed. So where does this 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:55.240 term match come from? Yeah, we mentioned Mandarin terminology, we 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:58.920 mentioned a little Latin. But as James Whisney I points 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:01.320 out in his match is the Manufacturer of Fire from 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:04.760 two thousand five published in the Indian Journal of Chemical Technology, 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:07.520 the word match seems to come from the French uh 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:10.720 meche I think, and this would be a wick as 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:13.520 in a lamp, and it likely refers back to the 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:17.279 Latin uh um might mix us. I believe it is 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:20.320 a mix of mixa, which would be the wick of 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:22.880 a lamp. But the key technology that led to the 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:26.039 naming of the match dicks see, it seems was what 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:29.040 is known as the slow match. Now, this is something 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:32.360 that's probably gonna be confusing yet again because this has 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:35.039 some things in common with matches of today. In the 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:38.520 matches we've been talking about other things very not in common. Right, 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:41.720 The slow match was essentially a slow burning cord or 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:46.479 twine uh fuse that early musketeers and soldiers used to 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:50.440 ignite early firearms and cannons. To put it in pirate 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:54.760 terms for everybody, because this may ring a bell legendary 0:05:54.800 --> 0:05:58.080 pirate to Edward Blackbeard Teach who lives sixteen eight through 0:05:58.120 --> 0:06:02.160 seventeen eighteen, is said to have twisted slow matches under 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:04.680 his hat, like in his hair um, and then they'd 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:08.880 be lit on both sides to frighten his enemies slash victims. 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:11.719 So when you hear the phrase slow match, you need 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:14.880 to think fuse. It is it is like a rope 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:18.039 like object that has been made to burn slowly. Yeah, 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:20.000 And but that's the other thing. When you think fuse, 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:23.800 don't think a firecracker fuse like you you have probably 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:28.080 some experience with today, or like a cartoon fuse, you know, 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:30.400 where it's just zipping around really quickly and there's just 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:34.520 a fast um transfer of that spark to the explosive. No, 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:41.160 this would be a slow, smoldering string twine cord type object. Yeah. 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:44.000 So yeah, generally you're talking about some rope or cord 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:47.600 soaked in potassium nitrate, which is a key constituent of gunpowder, 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:50.440 and then it would be dried, you'd light it, you'd 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:53.279 you'd blow out the flame, but then a red ember 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:56.120 would continue to burn and work its way down the cord. 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:58.000 So really, if you if you think of a fuse 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:00.880 like a firecracker refuse with all the sparking, and you 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:04.600 think about it going really slowly, that's essentially what's happening. 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:07.360 Very similar thing actually to the carrying of the coal 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:10.160 in the in the birch bark container. It's something to 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:13.920 keep a low fire smoldering for a long period of 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:17.960 time that can be used to reignite something else quickly. Yeah, 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:21.040 basically getting that fire into a state of suspended animation 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:22.840 where it's there when you need it. But it's also 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.560 you're not just like carrying around a big flaming torch, 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:29.280 especially if you're having to deal with gunpowder. Though, as 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:32.640 we'll discuss in a minute, it didn't come without dangers. Yes, 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:35.400 So another place some of you might have seen this 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:37.600 is you would you would typically find the slow match 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:41.080 physically attached to a weapon such as a musket or 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:45.920 clipped to the matchlock mechanism of a matchlock weapon. Yes. 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:49.920 For a really great recent media example, if you've seen 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:54.400 the horror movie The Witch, directed by Robert Egger's, Uh, 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:56.960 there is a scene in the movie where actually, throughout 0:07:56.960 --> 0:07:59.720 the movie, um, the characters carry around a musket and 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:02.640 it is a matchlock musket. There's a scene where the 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:06.960 father played by Ralph Ineson is trying to hunt He's 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:09.560 trying to shoot a rabbit. Uh, And you can see 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:12.760 it has this long tail of cord sticking out of it. 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:15.360 Sometimes they carry it with the cords sort of wrapped 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:17.680 around what looks like a cleat of some kind on 0:08:17.720 --> 0:08:20.160 the stock. And in the scene where he tries to 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:23.320 hunt a rabbit, you can watch him going through these 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:27.680 kind of tedious, dangerous, laborious steps of like pouring out 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:30.680 the powder, packing it, getting the slow match lit and 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:32.880 then blowing on it to make it smolder, and then 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:35.640 clipping it into the hook. Like it looks like it 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:38.839 would be a very difficult weapon to use, and in 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:42.480 one sense it is like, but you might wonder, watching 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:46.160 all of this laborious stuff, why was the matchlock musket 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:49.960 actually an invention? What would this be an improvement over? Uh? 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:53.439 So I was reading about this, and apparently previously gunpowder 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:57.120 based weapons would usually have to be lit by hand. 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:00.560 So try to imagine that, like in the moment, the 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:05.280 gunner would have to carefully set fire to the priming powder, 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:07.840 which was in a small receptacle called the flash pan, 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:10.840 and they would have to do that by hand, and 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:12.880 then of course the ignition of the powder and the 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.920 flash pan would in turn set off the main charge 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:18.320 inside the barrel and then propel the ball out towards 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:20.880 the target. But just imagine trying to do this aim 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:24.240 a weapon at a target while you're trying to carefully 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:27.480 light the flash pan by hand. I mean, it's it 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:31.920 seems borderline impossible. And generally weapons before this period were 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:34.920 not handheld. You'd be talking about cannons, you know, mounted 0:09:35.040 --> 0:09:38.199 artillery and stuff, but the musket was something that you 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:41.280 wanted to be able to hold in your hands and aim. 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:44.439 And the match lock provided a huge advantage here by 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:48.520 freeing the musket carrier's hands to hold and aim the weapon. 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:51.800 So here, after you pack the weapon, so you you 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:54.600 put the powder for the main charge down the barrel, 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:57.520 you'd pack the ball in you you'd smash it down 0:09:57.520 --> 0:09:59.719 with the stick and then what you would do is 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:03.040 s the end of the slow match this fuse like cord. 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:05.480 You'd set the end of that burning, you'd blow on it, 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:08.679 get it smoldering, and then you'd clip the burning end 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:11.640 of the slow match into a little metal arm called 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:14.560 a serpentine, and then you put the powder in the 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:17.280 flash pan. And after you've done all that, you could 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:20.120 aim the weapon and pull the trigger. And what would 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:22.880 happen when you pull the trigger is that the metal 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:27.560 serpentine would automatically lower the smoldering slow match down into 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:30.760 the flash pan to ignite the charge. And this was 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:33.280 a big improvement over the hand lighting of the powder. 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:36.079 But as you can probably tell from the description, it's 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:39.920 still going to be very slow firing, laborious. It could 0:10:39.960 --> 0:10:42.760 still be dangerous because you'd probably be like trying to 0:10:42.880 --> 0:10:46.480 manage a burning slow match as you're like pouring powder 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:49.760 into various parts of the gun. Uh So there are 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:53.199 several drawbacks of course to the matchlock must get Number one, 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:55.439 you would have some kind of giveaways to the enemy, 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:57.640 right Like, so you're trying to line up to shoot 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:00.240 at night, and you'd be having to light these fires 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:02.520 and have the slow match burning. You would be able 0:11:02.600 --> 0:11:05.000 to smell it. Uh, and then of course there's the 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:08.000 danger of the smoldering thing next to all this powder 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:10.559 you're juggling around. This makes me wonder, you know, all 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:15.080 these various first person shooter video games, they often devote 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:18.880 a great deal of detail to how guns are loaded 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:22.640 and reloaded and and then brought back into position for firing. 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:26.800 But it happens really fast. I wonder if if there 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:29.760 is a game out there that gives even like a 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:33.960 halfway accurate depiction of the use of a matchlock weapon. Yeah, 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:36.920 like a fifteenth century first person shooter where it takes, 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:40.080 you know, at least thirty seconds to load every shot. Yeah, 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:41.920 that would be that'd be an interesting call of duty 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:44.400 game right there. Well, I think maybe it actually could 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:46.439 be that kind of the stakes, and I think it 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:49.240 would be It would be interesting. Yeah. I mean, there's 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:52.319 at least one or two archaic weapons in the Fallout games, 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:55.200 but you know, it's all on auto reload. You just push. 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:57.600 Reloading just takes a while. It would be interesting if 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:00.760 there was a game where you you actually had to, uh, 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:03.680 you know, do this maneuver with one joystick and another 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:06.079 with the other joystick and whereas it was so that 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:10.160 actually reloading this weapon required uh more of a you know, 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:13.240 a cognitive responsibility on the part of the player, and 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:16.080 if you screw up while you're reloading, it literally explodes 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:18.440 in your face and kills you. And then but so 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:21.240 there's a funny thing here where the progression of the 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:25.360 firing mechanism in in gun technology actually goes kind of 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:27.800 opposite of what we've been talking about in the progress 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:31.680 of firelighting and matches, because you go in history from 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:35.520 the matchlock musket to the flint lock musket, and the 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:38.560 flint lock was said to be an improvement because you 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:41.160 didn't have to have a fire lit there. Instead, you 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:44.480 just have the powder in your flash pan and it 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:47.080 would be ignited by the striking of the flint that 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:50.679 happens when you release the hammer. Interesting. Now, of course, 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:52.840 that has its own problems. With the flint lock, I 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:55.959 think there was a greater chance of the weapon misfiring, right, 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:58.560 maybe you don't get a good spark or something. But anyway, 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:00.800 I thought that was interesting content x for the idea 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:03.360 of the match. You know, when you think about the 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:05.880 way it works with the weapon, is it's there to 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:08.959 be a fire that's ready whenever you need it. Yeah, 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:10.800 and this is really, I mean, this is key to 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:13.800 so many technologies, right, I mean again coming back to 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:17.839 even the the hot water heater in in in the household. 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:20.000 You know, it's how do you make sure the fire 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:22.920 is there when you need it, but in a safe way, 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:25.599 in a way that is not going to endanger everybody. 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:29.240 So as far as matches and the match lock and 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:34.679 the slow match, basically, Whisneak writes that the match was just, 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:37.360 you know, basically with with more of a modern match. 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:39.040 It's just a way of having a fire ready for 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:41.280 you when you need it. And so it's you know, 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:45.760 quite reasonable transfer of names here to talk about the 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:49.360 wooden match with the legacy of the slow match. Yeah, 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:52.240 I think that's great because ultimately, what we're gonna get 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:54.360 to with the friction matches that you don't need to 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:56.720 have a fire burning at all, and yet it's still 0:13:56.760 --> 0:13:58.880 ready the moment you need it, right, and it's it's 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:00.920 certainly gonna be a little bit more like the the 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:04.480 the flint lock scenario that we're just talking about. So, uh, 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:06.760 we discussed in the last episode how humans have spent 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:08.800 a lot of time poking around in the fire and 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:11.640 using fire among other means to understand the nature of 0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:15.559 various substances. And that's eventually essentially how we got to 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:18.880 the notion of using sulfur or potassium nitrate. Even right 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:22.040 there are these substances, we figured out how to in 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:24.400 some cases you know, refine them. And then what happens 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:27.160 when we had fire to them, Well, they spark or 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:30.480 they explode or they they they catch fire more readily 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:33.720 than other substances, and that they can ultimately, like sulfur 0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:36.800 can if coding the end of a little stick can 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:41.240 make that stick a better fuel to use for transferring 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:43.640 flame from one point to another. Now, the flame bringing 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:46.600 power of sulfur as we know goes back way into 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:48.760 the ancient world that was known about by you know, 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:51.840 the ancient Chinese, by the ancient Romans. But there are 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:55.360 going to be new chemicals coming online that may serve 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:58.440 this job even better. Yes, humans began to under uncover 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:02.960 new substances such as is even new elements such as phosphorus, 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:06.240 which in the seventeenth century became the first new element 0:15:06.320 --> 0:15:10.120 not known since ancient times. And some arguments have been 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:13.800 made for other chemists othern you know, discoveries haven't been 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.520 having taken place earlier or around the same time, but 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:20.360 credit is typically given to the German alchemist hinting Brand 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:24.200 in sixteen sixty nine. Now, a quick note on alchemy, 0:15:24.320 --> 0:15:27.520 which is a rich topic unto itself, but we're largely 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:31.680 dealing with a proto scientific mixture of chemical research and 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:36.720 occult magic, the continuation of mystery traditions, etcetera. I love 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:41.479 the period of alchemy. It's so culturally and historically interesting, 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:45.360 especially when you're thinking about the history of science, because 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:49.360 it is a time when in some cases, real knowledge 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:55.119 is advancing right alongside what people believed were equivalent advances 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:58.200 in knowledge about like demonology and how to you know, 0:15:58.240 --> 0:16:01.720 how to do spells, at the same time that people 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:05.800 really are learning things about, say, uh, chemistry and the 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:09.760 curing of certain diseases. Yeah. Like, for instance, in Bronze case, 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:13.960 he was seeking the legendary Philosopher's Stone. Now, this is 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:18.480 a substance of that was said to have miraculous powers. 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:22.320 It was capable of transforming metals into u into other metals. 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:25.080 You know, this is that lead into gold, uh scenario, 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:29.560 but it could also provide immortality. That's why it factors 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:34.080 into a Harry Potter novel, for instance. But Broun sought 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:39.000 it in urine, in urine, distilling it down to a 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:43.360 white material that glowed in the dark. And this was phosphorus. 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:47.000 Mirabulous or miraculous bearer of light. Who would have known 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:51.560 that PP was so illuminating? Indeed, it was all right, 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:53.440 we're gonna take a quick break. When we come back, 0:16:53.840 --> 0:16:57.360 we will return to the mysteries of the urine, and 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:06.200 we will talk about phosphorus. Alright, we're back. So as 0:17:06.240 --> 0:17:10.480 one might expect, given its alchemical origins, UH, phosphorus was 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:13.200 a secret. At first, it was traded and it was sold, 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:17.600 but it eventually it became known beyond these chambers of secret. Uh. 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:21.960 Its most impressive attribute is that it instantly combusts in air, 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:25.600 making it a nasty element in many ways. And and 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:27.919 we see we see this today with the use of 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:32.560 a white phosphorus munitions, which popped up in the twentieth century, 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:35.040 and then they are still used today by some militaries, 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:38.840 despite the fact that this and other incendiary weapons have 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:43.920 been banned by multiple international laws. UM white phosphorus munitions 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:48.720 can produce additional like terrible burns via burning particles as 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:52.159 well as harmful vapors. Yeah, I was reading an article 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:55.159 about this in Reuters from two thousand nine because I 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:58.440 tried to sort this out before. It's sort of complicated 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:02.760 and confusing because phosphorus based incendiaries have both legal and 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:06.600 illegal uses in war these days. Um, and that can 0:18:06.680 --> 0:18:10.960 lead to, you know, arguments about specific uses. So white 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:13.760 phosphorus today, as it would be used as a munition, 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:18.640 is this colorless or sometimes kind of yellow waxy substance 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:22.359 I've read this. Router's article mentioned that it sometimes smells 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:25.639 like garlic. I did not know that, but that it 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:30.200 ignites in the air very easily at temperatures of something 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:33.919 like thirty degrees celsius or about eighty six degrees fahrenheit, 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:36.440 and it can be very hard to put out once 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:41.120 it's ignited. Um. But apparently common uses of white phosphorus, 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:44.080 in addition to you know, just being a direct incendiary weapon, 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:47.520 are in like tracer ammunition, so to help you know 0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:50.120 see where where the line of fire is going. Right, 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:52.680 If anyone's ever watched any of those old like World 0:18:52.720 --> 0:18:57.159 War two, World War two cockpit footage of of of 0:18:57.160 --> 0:18:59.920 of machine gun fire. You know, you're seeing the tracers 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:03.720 the lights that mark which direction of the bullets are going. 0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:07.919 Another common use for it apparently is in marking targets, so, 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:10.440 which would mean, you know, so you need some kind 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:12.879 of target flare, so you're trying to aim artillery or 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:15.679 something like that, you can mark the target on the 0:19:15.720 --> 0:19:19.119 ground that you're trying to hit with white phosphorus apparently. Uh. 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:22.480 And then finally to create smoke screens, which would be 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:26.199 useful in hiding the maneuver of friendly troops. Yeah. So 0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:28.639 basically comes down to how are you using it or 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:32.639 using it to illuminate or using it to obscure, or 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:35.680 are you using it in a way that is either 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:41.960 intentionally or or or nearly intentionally uh, incendiary against human 0:19:41.960 --> 0:19:44.919 beings or or human infrastructure, using it to burn people 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:47.840 in buildings. Right, that does seem to be the main difference. 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:50.480 So the uses I mentioned have been more generally permitted, 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:53.919 but it is against international law to use white phosphorus 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:57.040 as an incendiary weapon, especially against civilians or in areas 0:19:57.040 --> 0:20:00.840 where civilians are clustered. And this us I think leads 0:20:00.880 --> 0:20:04.600 to disputes because they're like these controversial uses where the 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:06.919 forces who used it said well, we were using it 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:10.040 for one of these permitted reasons, and then their critics say, no, 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:13.840 you were using it as an incendiary weapon. Yeah. Yeah, 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:16.080 I remember. I grew up in a house so where 0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:19.200 we know, we talked a lot about military technology, and 0:20:19.200 --> 0:20:21.600 and my my dad always he always stressed the just 0:20:21.720 --> 0:20:25.440 horrible nous of incendiary weapons, such as the flamethrower, which 0:20:25.480 --> 0:20:28.320 on a video game can look pretty cool until you 0:20:28.359 --> 0:20:31.679 think about what a flamethrower actually is and what a 0:20:31.840 --> 0:20:35.200 horrible weapon it is. Uh. And likewise, phosphorus, I remember 0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:37.399 him telling me that, like you've if you would have, 0:20:37.440 --> 0:20:41.080 if you would have particles of phosphorus, like in your skin, 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:44.320 they would have to immerse your your like your arm 0:20:44.400 --> 0:20:47.639 in water then to remove it. Uh, thus you know, 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:51.639 degating the flare ability of it when it's exposed to 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:56.439 oxygen or free atmospheric oxygen. Yeah, that that goes everything 0:20:56.480 --> 0:20:58.840 I've read about phosphorus as a direct weapon is just 0:20:59.720 --> 0:21:02.560 a toe total nightmare. But all this would come later. 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:05.439 We're fast forwarding a little bit with the phosphorus weapons, 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:08.080 because at first phosphorus, you know, when it first crept 0:21:08.080 --> 0:21:10.240 out of the alchemist workshop, it was one of these 0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:13.119 substances that clearly had a lot of potential and you 0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:15.080 didn't have to be a war pig to see it, 0:21:15.359 --> 0:21:17.960 because no, no, surely this is an element that would 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:21.560 enable one to produce instant fire, because that's what it does. 0:21:21.960 --> 0:21:25.080 It can busts in the air itself. Yeah, what a 0:21:25.200 --> 0:21:29.200 like eighty something degrease fahrenheit. I mean that that's that's unusual. Yeah, 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:31.000 like even in uh you know, I mean, because we're 0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:34.120 talking about even like in a cold environment with minimal friction, 0:21:34.480 --> 0:21:37.240 you would be able to reach that point. However, it 0:21:37.240 --> 0:21:39.840 would take a good a hundred and fifty years after 0:21:39.880 --> 0:21:44.399 its discovery for us to see really the beginnings of 0:21:44.400 --> 0:21:47.520 of actual technology that utilized it. And this would be 0:21:47.760 --> 0:21:53.160 um the pyro phosphorus fire carrier that came around. This 0:21:53.400 --> 0:21:56.720