Caveman Chemistry

Long before the Industrial Revolution, humans routinely transformed mundane natural materials into incredibly useful goods. Stone into bronze tools! Plants into colorful dyes and fat into soap! Using Caveman Chemistry as our guide, we will create a sampling of our own primitive goods using low-tech methods and explore the chemistry behind these seemingly magical transformations. Complementing our chemical glimpse into the past, we will explore current-day motivations for creating from scratch and making use of more primitive technologies by reading current works, including Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology and meeting with local artisans.