Editing Discovery of chemical elements (section)

== Pre-modern and early modern discoveries ==
{{sticky header}}
{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"
|-
! [[Atomic number|Z]]
! Element
! data-sort-type="number"|Earliest use
! data-sort-type="number"|Oldest <br />existing <br />sample
! Discoverer(s)
! Place of <br />oldest <br />sample
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 79
| [[Gold]]
| data-sort-value=-40000|40000&nbsp;BC
| data-sort-value=-4400|4600&nbsp;BC – 4200&nbsp;BC
| Earliest humans
| [[Varna Necropolis]]
| Small amounts of natural gold have been found in Spanish caves used during the late [[Paleolithic]] period, {{Circa|40000 BC}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yannopoulos |first=J. C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hE7uBwAAQBAJ&dq=history+of+gold+begins+in+antiquity.+Bits+of+gold+were+found+in+Spanish+caves+that+were+used+by+Paleolithic+people+around+40,000+B.C.&pg=PP8 |title=The Extractive Metallurgy of Gold |publisher=Springer US |year=1991 |isbn=978-1-4684-8427-4 |location=Boston, MA |pages=ix |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-1-4684-8425-0}}</ref> The earliest gold artifacts dating to 4600&nbsp;BC to 4200&nbsp;BC were discovered at the site of [[Varna Necropolis]], [[Bulgaria]].<ref>{{cite book | last1=Grande | first1=L. | last2=Augustyn | first2=A. | last3=Weinstein | first3=J. | title=Gems and Gemstones: Timeless Natural Beauty of the Mineral World | publisher=University of Chicago Press | year=2009 | isbn=978-0-226-30511-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RnE9Fa4pbn0C&pg=PA290 | access-date=2025-02-23 |page=290}}</ref> Recognised as an element by Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier, Berthollet, and Fourcroy in 1787.<ref name=Miskowiec/>
|-
| 6
| [[Carbon]]
| data-sort-value=-26000|26000&nbsp;BC
| data-sort-value=-26000|26000&nbsp;BC
| Earliest humans
|
| Charcoal and soot were known to the earliest humans, with the oldest known [[charcoal (art)|charcoal paintings]] dating to about 28000 years ago, e.g. [[Gabarnmung]] in Australia.<ref name=Miskowiec/><ref name=CSM_rockart>{{cite news|last=McGuirk|first=Rod|title=Australian rock art among the world's oldest|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0618/Australian-rock-art-among-world-s-oldest|access-date=30 December 2012|newspaper=Christian Science Monitor|date=18 June 2012|agency=AP}}</ref> The earliest known industrial use of charcoal was for the [[Carbothermic reaction|reduction]] of copper, zinc, and tin ores in the manufacture of bronze, by the Egyptians and Sumerians.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.caer.uky.edu/carbon/history/carbonhistory.shtml |title=History of Carbon and Carbon Materials – Center for Applied Energy Research – University of Kentucky |publisher=Caer.uky.edu |access-date=2008-09-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101085829/http://www.caer.uky.edu/carbon/history/carbonhistory.shtml |archive-date=2012-11-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Diamond]]s were probably known as early as 2500&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4555235.stm | title = Chinese made first use of diamond | work = BBC News | date=  17 May 2005 | access-date = 2007-03-21}}</ref> True chemical analyses were made in the 18th century,<ref>{{cite book |last=Ferchault de Réaumur |first=R-A |year=1722 |title=L'art de convertir le fer forgé en acier, et l'art d'adoucir le fer fondu, ou de faire des ouvrages de fer fondu aussi finis que le fer forgé (English translation from 1956) |location=Paris, Chicago}}</ref> and in 1772 [[Antoine Lavoisier]] demonstrated that diamond, graphite, and charcoal are all composed of the same substance.<ref name=Miskowiec/> In 1787, de Morveau, Fourcroy, and Lavoisier listed carbon (in French, ''carbone'') as an element, distinguishing it from coal (in French, ''charbon'').<ref name=Miskowiec/>
|-
| 29
| [[Copper]]
| data-sort-value=-9888|9000&nbsp;BC
| data-sort-value=-6000|6000&nbsp;BC
| [[Copper#History|Middle East]]
| [[Asia Minor]]
| It was originally obtained as a native metal and later from the smelting of ores. Earliest estimates of the discovery of copper suggest around 9000 BC in the Middle East. It was one of the most important materials to humans throughout the [[Chalcolithic]] and [[Bronze Age]]s. Copper beads dating from 6000&nbsp;BC have been found in [[Çatalhöyük]], [[Anatolia]]<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/copper/overview.php| title = CSA – Discovery Guides, A Brief History of Copper| access-date = 2008-05-19| archive-date = 2015-02-03| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150203154021/http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/copper/overview.php| url-status = dead}}</ref> and the [[archaeological]] site of Belovode on the [[Rudnik (mountain)|Rudnik mountain]] in [[Serbia]] contains the world's oldest securely dated evidence of copper smelting from 5000&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/calendar/articles/20100924|title=Serbian site may have hosted first copper makers|publisher=UCL Institute of Archaeology|date=23 September 2010|website=UCL.ac.uk|access-date=22 April 2017|archive-date=28 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328065919/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/calendar/articles/20100924|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="archaeology.ws">{{cite web|title=Serbian site may have hosted first copper makers|author=Bruce Bower|date=17 July 2010|work=ScienceNews|url=http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/60563/description/Serbian_site_may_have_hosted_first_copper_makers|access-date=22 April 2017|archive-date=8 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508005006/http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/60563/description/Serbian_site_may_have_hosted_first_copper_makers|url-status=dead}}</ref> Recognised as an element by [[Louis Guyton de Morveau]],  [[Antoine Lavoisier]], [[Claude Berthollet]], and [[Antoine-François de Fourcroy]] in 1787.<ref name=Miskowiec/> 
|-
| 82
| [[Lead]]
| data-sort-value=-7000|7000&nbsp;BC
| data-sort-value=-3800|3800&nbsp;BC
| [[Lead#History|Asia Minor]]
| [[Abydos, Egypt]]
| It is believed that lead smelting began at least 9,000 years ago, and the oldest known artifact of lead is a statuette found at the temple of [[Osiris]] on the site of Abydos dated around 3800&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lead.org.au/lanv2n3/lanv2n3-22.html |title=The History of Lead – Part 3 |publisher=Lead.org.au |access-date=2008-09-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041018173952/http://www.lead.org.au/lanv2n3/lanv2n3-22.html |archive-date=2004-10-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Recognised as an element by Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier, Berthollet, and Fourcroy in 1787.<ref name=Miskowiec/>
|-
| 47
| [[Silver]]
| data-sort-value=-5001|Before 5000&nbsp;BC
| data-sort-value=-4000|ca. 4000&nbsp;BC
| [[Silver#History|Asia Minor]]
| [[Asia Minor]]
| Estimated to have been discovered in [[Asia Minor]] shortly after copper and gold.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://elements.vanderkrogt.net/element.php?sym=ag| title = 47 Silver}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://chemistry.about.com/od/elementfacts/a/silver.htm |title=Silver Facts – Periodic Table of the Elements |publisher=Chemistry.about.com |access-date=2008-09-12 |archive-date=2016-11-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161121190719/http://chemistry.about.com/od/elementfacts/a/silver.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Recognised as an element by Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier, Berthollet, and Fourcroy in 1787.<ref name=Miskowiec/>
|-
| 26
| [[Iron]]
| data-sort-value=-5001|Before 5000&nbsp;BC
| data-sort-value=-4000|4000&nbsp;BC
| [[Ferrous metallurgy|Middle East]]
| [[Egypt]]
| There is evidence that iron was known from before 5000 BC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elements.vanderkrogt.net/element.php?sym=fe |title=26 Iron  |publisher=Elements.vanderkrogt.net |access-date=2008-09-12}}</ref> The oldest known iron objects used by humans are some beads of [[meteoric iron]], made in Egypt in about 4000 BC. The discovery of smelting around 3000 BC led to the start of the [[Iron Age]] around 1200 BC<ref>{{Cite book|last = Weeks|first = Mary Elvira|author-link=Mary Elvira Weeks|author2=Leichester, Henry M. |year = 1968|title = Discovery of the Elements|publisher = Journal of Chemical Education|location = Easton, PA|chapter = Elements Known to the Ancients|pages = 29–40| lccn =68-15217|isbn = 0-7661-3872-0}}</ref> and the prominent use of iron for tools and weapons.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his101%5Cmisc%5Cpersia.htm |title=Notes on the Significance of the First Persian Empire in World History  |publisher=Courses.wcupa.edu |access-date=2008-09-12}}</ref> Recognised as an element by Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier, Berthollet, and Fourcroy in 1787.<ref name=Miskowiec/>
|-
| 50
| [[Tin]]
| data-sort-value=-3500|3500&nbsp;BC
| data-sort-value=-2000|2000&nbsp;BC
| [[Asia Minor]]
| [[Kestel (archaeological site)|Kestel]]
| First smelted in combination with copper around 3500&nbsp;BC to produce [[bronze]] (and thus giving place to the [[Bronze Age]] in those places where [[Iron Age]] did not intrude directly on [[Neolithic]] of the [[Stone Age]]).{{clarify|date=March 2018}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elements.vanderkrogt.net/element.php?sym=sn |title=50 Tin  |publisher=Elements.vanderkrogt.net |access-date=2008-09-12}}</ref> [[Kestel (archaeological site)|Kestel]], in southern [[Turkey]], is the site of an ancient [[Cassiterite]] mine that was used from 3250 to 1800 BC.<ref>{{citation| last1=Hauptmann| first1=A.| last2=Maddin| first2=R.| last3=Prange|first3=M.|jstor=1357777| title=On the structure and composition of copper and tin ingots excavated from the shipwreck of Uluburun| year=2002|periodical=Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research|volume=328| issue=328|at=pp. 1–30| publisher=American Schools of Oriental Research}}</ref> The oldest artifacts date from around 2000 BC.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://neon.mems.cmu.edu/cramb/Processing/history.html |title=History of Metals |publisher=Neon.mems.cmu.edu |access-date=2008-09-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070108015008/http://neon.mems.cmu.edu/cramb/Processing/history.html |archive-date=2007-01-08 }}</ref> Recognised as an element by Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier, Berthollet, and Fourcroy in 1787.<ref name=Miskowiec/>
|-
| 51
| [[Antimony]]
| data-sort-value=-3000|3000&nbsp;BC
| data-sort-value=-3000|3000&nbsp;BC
| Sumerians
| Middle East
| An artifact, said to be part of a vase, made of very pure antimony dating to about 3000&nbsp;BC was found at [[Girsu|Telloh]], [[Chaldea]] (part of present-day [[Iraq]]).<ref name="moorey">{{cite book|last=Moorey|first=P. R. S.|date=1994|title=Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: the Archaeological Evidence|place=New York|publisher=Clarendon Press|page=241|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_Ixuott4doC&pg=PA241|isbn=978-1-57506-042-2}}</ref> [[Pedanius Dioscorides|Dioscorides]] and [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] both describe the accidental production of metallic antimony from [[stibnite]], but only seem to recognize the metal as lead.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Healy|first1=John F.|title=Pliny the Elder on Science and Technology|date=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780198146872|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hz6D4H-s5psC|access-date=26 January 2018}}</ref> The intentional isolation of antimony is described in the works attributed to the Muslim alchemist [[Jabir ibn Hayyan]] ({{circa|850}}–950).<ref name=Sarton /> In Europe, the metal was being produced and used by 1540, when it was described by Vannoccio Biringuccio.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Biringuccio|first1=Vannoccio|title=Pirotechnia|date=1959|publisher=Courier Corporation|isbn=9780486261348|pages=91–92|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HKVGDwAAQBAJ|access-date=31 January 2018|quote=Probably metallic antimony was being produced in Germany in Biringuccio's time, for later in this chapter he mentions importation of cakes of the smelted (or melted) metal to alloy with pewter or bell metal.}}</ref> Described again by [[Georgius Agricola]] ''[[De re metallica]]'' in 1556. Probably first recognised as an element by Lavoisier in 1787.<ref name=Miskowiec/>
|-
| 16
| [[Sulfur]]
| data-sort-value=-2001|Before 2000&nbsp;BC
| 
| [[Sulfur#History|Middle East]]
| [[Middle East]]
| First used at least 4,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.georgiagulfsulfur.com/history.htm |title=Sulfur History |publisher=Georgiagulfsulfur.com |access-date=2008-09-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916201636/http://georgiagulfsulfur.com/history.htm |archive-date=2008-09-16 }}</ref> According to the [[Ebers Papyrus]], a sulfur ointment was used in ancient [[Egypt]] to treat granular eyelids. (The Ebers papyrus was written c. 1550 BC, but is believed to have been copied from earlier texts.)<ref name=Ebers1875>{{cite book |title=Papyros Ebers: Das hermetische Buch über die Arzeneimittel der alten Ägypter in hieratischer Schrift, herausgegeben mit Inhaltsangabe und Einleitung versehen von Georg Ebers, mit Hieroglyphisch-Lateinischem Glossar von Ludwig Stern, mit Unterstützung des Königlich Sächsischen Cultusministerium |language=de |edition=1 |volume=2 |last=Stern |first=Ludwig Christian |editor1-last=Ebers |editor1-first=Georg |editor-link=Georg Ebers |publisher=W. Englemann |location=[[Leipzig]] |year=1875 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LjBxSQAACAAJ&q=Papyros+Ebers:+Das+hermetische+Buch+%C3%BCber+die+Arzeneimittel+der+alten+%C3%84gypter+in+hieratischer+Schrift+Georg+Ebers |access-date=2010-09-18 |lccn=25012078 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ed0yC98aAKYC&pg=PA242 |title= Archaeomineralogy |isbn= 978-3-540-78593-4 |page= 242 |last1= Rapp |first1= George Robert |date= 4 February 2009|publisher= Springer }}</ref> Designated as one of the two elements of which all metals are composed in the [[sulfur-mercury theory of metals]], first described in pseudo-Apollonius of Tyana's ''[[Sirr al-khaliqa]]'' ('Secret of Creation') and in the works attributed to [[Jabir ibn Hayyan]] (both 8th or 9th century).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kraus|first=Paul|author-link=Paul Kraus (Arabist)|year=1942–1943|title=Jâbir ibn Hayyân: Contribution à l'histoire des idées scientifiques dans l'Islam. I. Le corpus des écrits jâbiriens. II. Jâbir et la science grecque|publisher=Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale|location=Cairo|oclc=468740510|isbn=9783487091150}} vol. II, p. 1, note 1; {{Cite book|last=Weisser|first=Ursula|editor1-first=Otto|editor1-last=Spies|title=Das "Buch über das Geheimnis der Schöpfung" von Pseudo-Apollonios von Tyana|publisher=[[De Gruyter]]|year=1980|location=Berlin|doi=10.1515/9783110866933|isbn=978-3-11-007333-1}} p. 199. On the dating and historical background of the ''Sirr al-khalīqa'', see Kraus 1942−1943, vol. II, pp. 270–303; Weisser 1980, pp. 39–72. On the dating of the writings attributed to Jābir, see Kraus 1942−1943, vol. I, pp. xvii–lxv. A more detailed and speculative account of the sulfur-mercury theory of metals is given by {{Cite book | publisher = Clarendon Press | last = Holmyard | first = E.J. | title = Makers of Chemistry | location = Oxford | year = 1931 | url = https://archive.org/details/makersofchemistr029725mbp | pages = [https://archive.org/details/makersofchemistr029725mbp/page/n76 57]–58}}</ref> Designated as a universal element (one of the ''[[tria prima]]'') by [[Paracelsus]] in the early 16th century.<!-- Sources as the target page [[tria prima]] (redirect to [[Paracelsus#Chemistry]]) --> Recognized as an element by Lavoisier in 1777, which was supported by [[John Dalton]] in 1808 and confirmed by [[Joseph Gay-Lussac]] and [[Louis Jacques Thénard]] in 1810.<ref name=Miskowiec/>
|-
| 80
| [[Mercury (element)|Mercury]]
| data-sort-value=-1500|1500&nbsp;BC
| data-sort-value=-1500|1500&nbsp;BC
| [[Mercury (element)#History|Egyptians]]
| [[Egypt]]
| [[Cinnabar]] (the most common mineral form of [[mercury(II) sulfide]], HgS) was used as a pigment from prehistory, dating as far back as the 9th millennium BC in the Middle East.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gliozzo |first1=Elisabetta |date=2021 |title=Pigments – Mercury-based red (cinnabar-vermilion) and white (calomel) and their degradation products |journal=Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences |volume=13 |issue=210 |pages= |doi=10.1007/s12520-021-01402-4 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2021ArAnS..13..210G |hdl=2158/1346784 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Cinnabar deposits in Turkey, exploited from 8000 years ago, also contain minor amounts of mercury metal.<ref>{{cite report |author= |author-link= |last1=Yıldız |first1=Mehmet |last2=Bailey |first2=Edgar H. |date=1978 |title=Geological Survey Bulletin 1456: Mercury Deposits in Turkey |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/1456/report.pdf |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page= |docket= |access-date=7 January 2024 |quote=}}</ref> Found in Egyptian tombs dating from 1500&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite web | title=Mercury and the environment – Basic facts | publisher=[[Environment Canada]], Federal Government of Canada | year=2004 | url=http://www.ec.gc.ca/MERCURY/EN/bf.cfm | access-date=2008-03-27 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070115042236/http://www.ec.gc.ca/MERCURY/EN/bf.cfm | archive-date=2007-01-15 }}</ref> Recognised as an element by Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier, Berthollet, and Fourcroy in 1787.<ref name=Miskowiec/>
|-
| 30
| [[Zinc]]
| data-sort-value=-1001|Before 1000&nbsp;BC
| data-sort-value=-1000|1000&nbsp;BC
| [[History of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent|Indian metallurgists]]
| [[Indian subcontinent]]
| Used as a component of [[brass]] since antiquity (before 1000&nbsp;BC) by Indian metallurgists, but its true nature was not generally understood in ancient times. A 4th century BC vase from [[Taxila]] is made of brass with a zinc content of 34%, too high to be produced by [[cementation process|cementation]], providing strong evidence that metallic zinc was known in India by the 4th century BC.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Biswas |first1=Arun Kumar |date=1993 |title=The Primacy of India in Ancient Brass and Zinc Metallurgy |url=https://cahc.jainuniversity.ac.in/assets/ijhs/Vol28_4_3_AKBiswas.pdf |journal=Indian Journal of History of Science |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=309–330 |doi= |access-date=4 January 2024}}</ref> Zinc smelting was done in China and India around 1300.<ref name=Miskowiec/> Identified as a distinct metal in the ''[[Rasaratna Samuchaya|Rasaratna Samuccaya]]'' around the 14th century of the Christian era<ref name=Craddock>Craddock, P. T. et al. (1983), "Zinc production in medieval India", ''World Archaeology'' '''15''' (2), Industrial Archaeology, p. 13</ref> and by the alchemist [[Paracelsus]] in 1526,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elements.vanderkrogt.net/element.php?sym=zn |title=30 Zinc  |publisher=Elements.vanderkrogt.net |access-date=2008-09-12}}</ref> who gave it its present name and described it as a new metal.<ref name=Miskowiec/> [[P. M. de Respour]] isolated it from zinc oxide in 1668;<ref name=Miskowiec/> the first detailed documentation of zinc isolation was given by [[Andreas Sigismund Marggraf]] in 1746.<ref>{{cite book|last=Weeks|first=Mary Elvira |author-link=Mary Elvira Weeks|year=1933|title=The Discovery of the Elements|publisher=Journal of Chemical Education|location=Easton, PA|chapter=III. Some Eighteenth-Century Metals|isbn=0-7661-3872-0|page=21}}</ref>
|-
| 78
| [[Platinum]]
| data-sort-value=-600|c. 600&nbsp;BC – AD&nbsp;200
| data-sort-value=-600|c. 600&nbsp;BC – AD&nbsp;200
| [[Platinum#History|Pre-Columbian South Americans]]
| South America
| Used by [[pre-Columbian]] Americans near modern-day [[Esmeraldas, Ecuador]] to produce artifacts of a white gold-platinum alloy, although precise dating is difficult.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Platinum Metals Review|author=David A. Scott and Warwick Bray|year=1980|url=https://www.technology.matthey.com/article/24/4/147-157/|title=Ancient Platinum Technology in South America: Its use by the Indians in Pre-Hispanic Times|access-date=5 Nov 2018|archive-date=6 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106053426/https://www.technology.matthey.com/article/24/4/147-157/|url-status=dead}}</ref> A small box from the burial of the Pharaoh [[Shepenupet II]] (died around 650 BC) was found to be decorated with gold-platinum hieroglyphics,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Sur les métaux égyptiens: Présence du platine parmi les caractères d'inscriptions hiéroglyphiques, confié à mon examn|trans-title=On Egyptian metals: Presence of platinum among the characters of hieroglyphic inscriptions, entrusted to my examination|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k30888/f778.image|journal=Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Sciences|language=fr|last=Berthelot|first=M.|volume=132|year=1901|page=729}}</ref> but the Egyptians may not have recognised that there was platinum in their gold.<ref>{{cite book |title=Jewelrymaking Through History: An Encyclopedia |pages=155–6 |author=Rayner W. Hesse |date=2007 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-33507-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Ogden | first=Jack M. | title=The So-Called 'Platinum' Inclusions in Egyptian Goldwork | journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology | publisher=SAGE Publications | volume=62 | issue=1 | year=1976 | issn=0307-5133 | doi=10.1177/030751337606200116 | pages=138–144| s2cid=192364303 }}</ref> First European description of a metal found in [[South America]]n gold was in 1557 by [[Julius Caesar Scaliger]]. [[Antonio de Ulloa]] was on an expedition to Peru in 1735, where he observed the metal; he published his findings in 1748. [[Charles Wood (ironmaster)|Charles Wood]] also investigated the metal in 1741. First reference to it as a new metal was made by [[William Brownrigg]] in 1750.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://elements.vanderkrogt.net/element.php?sym=pt |title=78 Platinum  |publisher=Elements.vanderkrogt.net |access-date=2008-09-12}}</ref>
|-
| 33
| [[Arsenic]]
| data-sort-value=300|c. AD&nbsp;300
| data-sort-value=300|c. AD&nbsp;300
| Egyptians
| Middle East
| The use of metallic arsenic was described by the Egyptian alchemist [[Zosimos of Panopolis|Zosimos]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Holmyard|first1=Eric John|title=Alchemy|date=1957|publisher=Courier Corporation|isbn=9780486262987|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Bt-kwKRUzUC|access-date=26 January 2018}}</ref> <!--possibly also in the leyden papyrus--> The purification of arsenic was later described in the works attributed to the Muslim alchemist [[Jabir ibn Hayyan]] ({{circa|850}}–950).<ref name=Sarton>{{cite book|last1=Sarton|first1=George|author-link=George Sarton|year=1927–1948|title=Introduction to the History of Science|volume=I–III|location=Baltimore|publisher=Williams & Wilkins|oclc=476555889}} vol. I, p. 532: "We find in them [sc. the works attributed to Jabir] [...] preparation of various substances ({{nowrap|e. g.}}, basic lead carbonate; arsenic and antimony from their sulphides)." On the dating of the writings attributed to Jabir, see {{harvnb|Kraus|1942–1943|loc=vol. I, pp. xvii–lxv}}.</ref> [[Albertus Magnus]] ({{circa|1200}}–1280) is typically credited with the description of the metal in the West,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Emsley|first1=John|title=Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements|date=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780198503415|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yhi5X7OwuGkC|access-date=28 February 2018}}</ref> though some question his work and instead credit [[Vannoccio Biringuccio]], whose ''De la pirotechnia'' (1540) distinguishes [[orpiment]] from crystalline arsenic. The first to unquestionably have prepared metallic arsenic was [[Johann Schröder (physician)|Johann Schröder]] in 1641. Recognised as an element after Lavoisier's definition in 1787.<ref name=Miskowiec/>
|-
| 83
| [[Bismuth]]
| data-sort-value=1500|{{circa|1500}}<ref>[https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/83/bismuth Bismuth - Royal Society of Chemistry]</ref>
| data-sort-value=1500|{{circa|1500}}
| European alchemists and [[Inca]] civilisation
| Europe and South America
| Bismuth was known since ancient times, but often confused with tin and lead, which are chemically similar. The [[Incas]] used bismuth (along with the usual copper and tin) in a special [[Bismuth bronze|bronze alloy]] for knives.<ref>{{cite journal |last1 = Gordon | first1= Robert B. |last2 = Rutledge | first2= John W. |date = 1984 |title = Bismuth Bronze from Machu Picchu, Peru |journal = Science |volume = 223 |issue = 4636 |pages = 585–586 |doi = 10.1126/science.223.4636.585 |pmid = 17749940 |bibcode = 1984Sci...223..585G |s2cid = 206572055 |jstor = 1692247}}</ref> [[Georgius Agricola|Agricola]] (1530 and 1546) states that bismuth is a distinct metal in a family of metals including tin and lead. This was based on observation of the metals and their physical properties.<ref name=Miskowiec/><ref>{{cite book |last=Agricola |first=Georgious |orig-year=1546 |date=1955 |title=De Natura Fossilium |location=New York |publisher=Mineralogical Society of America |page=178 |url=http://farlang.com/books/agricola-bandy-de-natura-fossilium}} <!-- https://books.google.com/books?id=9pxPAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA143 --></ref> Miners in the age of alchemy also gave bismuth the name ''{{lang|la|tectum argenti}},'' or "silver being made" in the sense of silver still in the process of being formed within the Earth.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nicholson |first=William |date=1819 |chapter=Bismuth |title=American edition of the British encyclopedia: Or, Dictionary of Arts and sciences; comprising an accurate and popular view of the present improved state of human knowledge |page=181 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GL5PAAAAMAAJ&pg=PT181}}</ref><ref name="Weeks">{{cite journal |last=Weeks |first=Mary Elvira |author-link=Mary Elvira Weeks |date=1932 |title=The discovery of the elements. II. Elements known to the alchemists |journal=Journal of Chemical Education |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=11 |doi=10.1021/ed009p11 |bibcode=1932JChEd...9...11W}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Giunta |first=Carmen J. |url=http://web.lemoyne.edu/~giunta/archems.html |title=Glossary of Archaic Chemical Terms |publisher=[[Le Moyne College]]}} See also for other terms for bismuth, including ''stannum glaciale'' (glacial tin or ice-tin).</ref> Beginning with [[Johann Heinrich Pott]] in 1738,<ref>{{cite book |last=Pott |first=Johann Heinrich |date=1738 |chapter=De Wismutho |title=Exercitationes Chymicae |page=134 |publisher=Berolini: Apud Johannem Andream Rüdigerum |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eQVAAAAAcAAJ&pg=RA1-PA134}}</ref> [[Carl Wilhelm Scheele]], and [[Torbern Olof Bergman]], the distinctness of lead and bismuth became clear, and [[Claude François Geoffroy]] demonstrated in 1753 that this metal is distinct from lead and tin.<ref name="Weeks" /><ref>{{cite book| first = C. R.| last = Hammond| pages = [https://archive.org/details/crchandbookofche81lide/page/4 4–1<!-- not a range -->]| title = The Elements, in Handbook of Chemistry and Physics| edition = 81st| location = Boca Raton (FL, US)| publisher = CRC press| isbn = 978-0-8493-0485-9| date = 2004| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/crchandbookofche81lide/page/4}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author-link=Claude François Geoffroy |last=Geoffroy |first=C.F. |title = Sur Bismuth |page = 190 |date = 1753 |journal = Histoire de l'Académie Royale des Sciences ... Avec les Mémoires de Mathématique & de Physique ... Tirez des Registres de Cette Académie |url = http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3551g/f197.image.r=royal.langEN}}</ref>
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