FROM CURIOSITY TO INDUSTRY - THE EARLY HISTORY OF CRYOLITE SODA MANUFACTURE

The history of the Greenlandic mineral cryolite is outlined from its d iscovery in late-eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, whe n its potential for industrial use was first recognized by the Danish chemist Julius Thomsen. During the 1850s, several attempts were made t o exploit cryolite for the production of soda and/or aluminium, of whi ch only the soda process became implemented on an industrial scale. Th e main part of the paper examines the early cryolite soda manufacture, its chemical basis as well as its industrial significance. The focus is thus the intersection of chemical science and technology. It is arg ued that Thomsen's process depended intimately on current chemical kno wledge, and that, with regard to the science-technology relationship, the cryolite soda manufacture signified a new kind of industrial chemi stry.