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You have probably heard people speak about THE ELEMENTS OF THE UNIVERSE. Fire is one of them and it is also one of the most important discoveries of humankind. These days it is impossible to imagine how life would be about it. If it burns uncontrollably, fire can cause great destruction, but when we can control it has brought many benefits to human life. This is why our ancestors understood the importance of fire and learned how to control it in their everyday life, because fire releases heat and heat gives us energy to live better, just like the Sun does!
Nobody knows how fire was discovered, maybe thanks to a volcano or lightning that hit a tree’s branches or leaves. We know for sure that humans found out how to light it and maintain it. The first people to use fire were the Homo erectus (erectus means that they could stand on two feet).
This happened 1.5 millon years ago, and the controlled use of fire made the difference between people and animals. People found out that thanks to fire they could have light, heat, they could defend themselves against wild creatures and could prepare food. They could live in a cave, make tools that would help them chase animals, cook better food, and make clothes and tools.
Thanks to fire, humans could populate colder regions of our planet and build safer shelters.
They could light a fire in two ways: friction of two dry sticks rubbing together or hitting two rocks against each other to create a spark. They also discovered that coniferous trees contained resin that could maintain a flame for a longer time, making it possible to transport it in the rain or for longer distances.
Before electricity, people made candles out of wax, soya or tallow (beef fat) 3000 years ago in Egypt. As the times passed, people discovered many other inflammable materials and they invented torches, lamps, matches and lighters.
The first lamps used petrol, and later paraffin, a type of wax made from petrol, and we still use them today. As for the lighter, it uses the basic principle of friction between two stones or a flint against steel. We still use these paraffin lamps and friction-based fire when we go into the woods. The scouts teach children how to make and maintain fire in the absence of electricity.
In people’s houses, heating evolved in terms of stoves and fireplaces that sheltered the fire, maintaining burning in the presence of oxygen (basic physical principles on which primitive man based his fire maintenance), but then when electricity came about, the radiator and central heating became the new devices that would create the comfort we have in our days.
Fire plays an important role in industry and since men discovered that burning wood transforms the material into coal, many foods are tastier and can be preserved longer. Fire at high temperatures can also melt metals and people can make more complex tools out of it (coins, swords, silverware and so on). When burning clay, people also saw that they could make pottery, and just as well sand can be turned into glass.
Once people discovered how to use natural gas, the first cooking machines and stoves appeared as well. Stoves are used to cook food and have evolved along with society. They replaced old wood-fire ovens, but these didn’t completely disappear.
Later on, people discovered that fire and gases can create combustion, which creates a lot of energy that we could use for machines. This is when fabrics, vehicles and central heating systems were invented in order to make life easier and faster.
It is important to know that without careful attention, fire can be damaging for the human environment. For your own protection to other people’s security, you children need to learn the basic ways on how to prevent a fire in your own home, in the school and in the middle of nature. There are specialists in fire prevention, called firemen. Firemen can not only prevent dangerous fires, but they can also stop a fire from expanding. Thanks to them, you children can meet firemen and have workshops on how to control or stop fire more efficiently.
