Chemistry & Materials
44 points from the earliest roots to the research frontier: 32 researched, 4 current research, 4 unsolved and 4 that become possible once they are solved. State of knowledge: October 2026.
Open the interactive tree →Antiquity3000 BC – 500 AD
- Metallurgy (Bronze, Iron)~2500 BCResearchedOre becomes metal: copper, bronze (copper plus tin) and, from about 1200 BC, iron change tools, weapons and society.
- Atomism (Democritus)~430 BCResearchedLeucippus and Democritus propose that everything consists of indivisible atoms moving in a void.
Middle Ages & Renaissance500 – 1700
- Alchemy & Distillation~800ResearchedArab and European alchemists develop distillation, acids and laboratory methods, the practice from which chemistry later grows.
- Gunpowder~900ResearchedChinese alchemists mix saltpetre, sulfur and charcoal: the first chemical explosive reshapes warfare, mining and rocketry.
- Boyle's Sceptical Chymist1661ResearchedBoyle attacks the alchemists' four elements (1661) and asks chemists to define elements by experiment.
Industrial Age1700 – 1900
- Modern Chemistry (Lavoisier)1789ResearchedLavoisier identifies oxygen as an element, shows conservation of mass and sorts substances into elements: chemistry becomes quantitative.
- Electrolysis (Davy, Faraday)1807ResearchedDavy uses Volta's battery to split compounds and isolates sodium and potassium (1807); Faraday gives the laws of electrolysis.
- Atomic Theory (Dalton)1808ResearchedDalton explains chemical laws in 1808 with atoms of different weights; chemistry now computes with atomic weights and formulas.
- Organic Synthesis (Wöhler)1828ResearchedWöhler makes urea from minerals in 1828, undermining the 'vital force' idea and opening the way to dyes, drugs and plastics.
- Catalysis1835ResearchedBerzelius coins the term in 1835: substances that speed up reactions without being consumed, now part of most industrial chemistry.
- Photography1839ResearchedDaguerre (1839) and Talbot (1841) fix light-sensitive silver salts into lasting images; the camera becomes a scientific instrument.
- Vulcanized Rubber1839ResearchedGoodyear's heating of rubber with sulphur (1839) makes it elastic, durable and weatherproof.
- Synthetic Dyes (Mauveine)1856ResearchedPerkin's accidental mauve (1856) starts the coal-tar dye industry and the research-based chemical company.
- Spectroscopy1859ResearchedBunsen and Kirchhoff (1859) show that every element glows in its own colours: light becomes a chemical fingerprint, even from stars.
- Dynamite (Nobel)1867ResearchedAlfred Nobel made nitroglycerin safe enough to transport and use, giving mining, tunnelling and canal building a far stronger blasting agent than…
- Periodic Table of Elements1869ResearchedMendeleev orders the elements by weight and properties and predicts unknown ones: the map of all chemistry.
- Aluminium by Electrolysis1886ResearchedHall and Héroult independently find (1886) how to win aluminium by electrolysis; a once-precious metal becomes an everyday material.
Machine Age1900 – 1945
- Chromatography1903ResearchedTswett separates plant pigments in a column of chalk (1903): the basic technique for sorting mixtures.
- Plastics (Bakelite to Nylon)1907-1953ResearchedBakelite (1907), Staudinger's polymers (1920) and nylon (1935) let chemists build plastics to order; output is now over 400 million tonnes a year.
- Cracking & Petrochemicals1913ResearchedThermal cracking (Burton, 1913) splits heavy oil into petrol; petrochemistry soon turns oil and gas into plastics and fibres.
- Mass Spectrometry1919ResearchedAston's mass spectrograph (1919) sorts atoms by weight and shows that elements have isotopes.
- Quantum Chemistry & Bonding1927ResearchedWith quantum mechanics, Heitler and London (1927) and Pauling (1939) explain why atoms bond: chemistry becomes computable.
- Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)1930ResearchedMidgley's Freon (1930) gives safe refrigerators and spray cans, but later damages the ozone layer.
Atomic & Space Age1945 – 1990
- NMR Spectroscopy1946ResearchedBloch and Purcell detect nuclear magnetic resonance (1946): radio waves reveal how molecules are built.
- Ultrapure Silicon & Chips1954ResearchedSand becomes ultrapure silicon (99.9999999%): the materials chemistry behind the transistor and the chip.
- Carbon-Fibre Composites1963ResearchedCarbon fibres (PAN-based processes of 1961-63) combined with resin give materials stiffer than steel at a fraction of the weight.
- Density Functional Theory1965ResearchedHohenberg, Kohn and Sham (1964-65) make quantum calculations of molecules and solids fast enough for everyday use.
- Neodymium Magnets1982ResearchedSagawa at Sumitomo and Croat at General Motors independently make the neodymium-iron-boron magnet (1982-83), the strongest permanent magnet.
- Fullerenes1985ResearchedKroto, Curl and Smalley discover the C60 'buckyball' (1985), the first of a new family of carbon nanostructures.
- High-Temperature Superconductors1986ResearchedBednorz and Müller discover copper-oxide superconductors in 1986; YBCO at 93 K (1987) is the first above liquid-nitrogen temperature.
Digital Age1990 – 2015
- Green Chemistry1998ResearchedAnastas and Warner's twelve principles (1998) ask chemists to design products and processes that avoid hazard and waste.
- Graphene & 2D Materials2004ResearchedGeim and Novoselov isolate a single carbon layer with adhesive tape in 2004: ultrathin, extremely strong, conductive (Nobel Prize 2010).
Present2015 – Oct 2026
- AI Discovers New Materials2023Current researchGoogle's GNoME (2023) proposes 2.2 million candidate crystals (about 380,000 predicted stable) and Microsoft's MatterGen (2025) designs to target…
- Nickelate Superconductors2023Current researchNickel oxides become the second family of high-temperature superconductors: 80 K under pressure (2023), 92-96 K since, about 40 K as films at normal…
- MOFs: Chemistry Nobel 20252025Current researchKitagawa, Robson and Yaghi receive the 2025 Chemistry Nobel Prize for MOFs: crystals with huge internal cavities for gas, water and CO2.
- Perovskite-Silicon Tandem Cells2025Current researchPerovskite on silicon converts about 35% of sunlight to power (certified lab record 35.5%), beyond what silicon alone can reach (theoretical limit…
Research Frontier · Todayunsolved as of Oct 2026
- Artificial PhotosynthesisopenUnsolvedTurn sunlight, water and CO2 directly into fuel, efficiently, durably and cheaply. It works in the lab but is not practical.
- Room-Temperature SuperconductoropenUnsolvedA material that conducts current without loss at everyday temperature and pressure. Reported records exist only at about -120 C or at over a million…
- Targeted Materials PredictionopenUnsolvedCompute in advance the material, and how to make it, for a desired property. Accuracy and synthesis are the sticking points.
- Truly Circular Plastic RecyclingopenUnsolvedOnly about 9% of plastic is recycled worldwide; the goal is to turn plastic into new plastic indefinitely without quality loss.
If Solvedbecomes possible
- Closed Plastic Cycle2040s?If solvedAll plastic is collected and turned back into new, equal-quality plastic, with no waste leaking into the environment.
- Materials Made to Order2040s?If solvedFor a desired property, software proposes the material and the recipe, and automated labs or printers make it.
- Sunlight to Fuel2040s?If solvedCheap devices turn sunlight, water and CO2 into liquid fuels and chemical feedstocks.
- Lossless Power Grids2050s?If solvedSuperconducting cables carry electricity across continents without loss, and storage and magnets become cheap.