In a detailed and informative account, this paper describes the development
of carbon products in the period from preshistory up until the present day
. As an introduction, general information is provided on the different carb
on allotropes as well as the tonnages of the different products and raw mat
erials processed annually. At some length, carbon black, the oldest form of
carbon used for technical applications, charcoal and coal coke are present
ed and explained comprehensibly. A further section deals with electrographi
te, other graphite products, and the numerous more recent innovations such
as carbon fibres, graphite foils, reactor graphite, battery carbon, and fin
e-grained graphite.