and its source in Cyprus, sacred to the goddesses.
Bronze is an alloy of copper
and arsenic or tin to make the metal harder.
The earliest copper-tin bronze, from 4500 BCE,
has been found in Serbia.
Trading of copper and tin
influenced the development of culture.
Tin ore from Cornwall
was traded as far as Phoenicia.
Julius Caesar made his coins of brass
an alloy of copper and zinc.
Octavianus Augustus Caesar made his
of an alloy of copper, lead, and tin.
The gates of the Temple of Jerusalem were
an alloy of copper, silver, and gold.
The telescope mirrors
of Newton, Herschel, and Parson
were speculum, an alloy
of copper and one-third tin.
Bells are cast of bell metal,
an alloy of copper and one-fifth tin,
and Buddhist singing bowls are made
of bell metal, too, with 23% tin.
Lanthanum barium copper oxide
was the first material
found to be superconducting
above the boiling temperature of liquid nitrogen.
Copperness
Aged verdigris
of gutters, downspouts, and Miss Liberty,
or copper pennies
tarnished or shiny
copper pipes and wires
and the copper bottoms of
Mom’s Revere Ware pots
have warm associations
ember of campfire
color of sunset
evoking the joy of being curious.
Bronze, copper with one-tenth tin, is typically harder
and less brittle than wrought iron,
but iron was cheaper to mine and process.
Bronze doesn’t rust like iron, but forms a protective surface
layer of copper oxide or copper carbonate.
This ancient date represents not when ancient man first discovered copper
but the first evidence that of it that modern man discovered.
Bronze, copper with one-tenth tin, is typically harder and less brittle than wrought iron, but iron was cheaper to mine and process. Bronze doesn’t rust like iron, but forms a protective surface layer of copper oxide or copper carbonate.
This ancient date represents not when ancient man first discovered copper but the first evidence that of it that modern man discovered.
See also in The book of science:
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