Strip-Mining Sulfur at Pozzuoli
Strip-Mining Sulfur at Pozzuoli (detail), Anton Eisenhoit, 1717 Strip-Mining Sulfur at Pozzuoli, Anton Eisenhoit, 1717 Strip-Mining Sulfur at Pozzuoli (detail), Anton Eisenhoit, 1717 Strip-Mining Sulfur at Pozzuoli
Anton Eisenhoit (German, 1553/4–1603)
Engraving in Michele Mercati, Metallotheca Vaticana (Rome, 1717), pl. after p. 78
2915-542

Sulfur is the main ingredient in gunpowder, whose applications were not limited to warfare. The explosive substance rapidly increased productivity in mining as well as canal and tunnel construction through the use of controlled demolition.

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The Art of Alchemy