the.com/ceramic
clay that survived fire and came back harder than its maker ever expected
means Made of clay or similar minerals that have been shaped and hardened by intense heat, producing a hard, brittle material used for pottery, tiles, and tableware.
from From Greek 'keramikos,' meaning 'of pottery,' which traces back to 'keramos' — potter's clay or earthenware. The same root gave Athens its potters' quarter, the Kerameikos, where the city's craftsmen turned earth into vessels (and, fittingly, where the dead were eventually buried in clay urns). The English word arrived through French 'céramique' in the 19th century, when the science of fired clay earned a proper name.
- space shield
- Tiles protected shuttles from 1,650°C reentry heat
- older than metal
- Fired pots predate farming by 10,000 years
- knife edge
- Stays sharp far longer than steel blades
- superconductors
- Some ceramics conduct electricity with zero resistance
- bulletproof
- Body armor plates are often ceramic, not metal
wedgwood pottery — english manufacturer founded 1759, revolutionized ceramic production with jasperware and mass production
ming porcelain — chinese imperial ceramics from 1368-1644, famous for blue and white designs from jingdezhen
delftware — dutch earthenware from delft, 17th century, glazed pottery mimicking chinese porcelain