Fire

Fire is a form of combustion. Most typically, the word fire refers to the combination of the brilliant glow and large amount of heat released during a rapid, self-sustaining exothermic oxidation process of combustible gases ejected from a fuel. The flames are a body of plasma that releases heat and light. Fires start when a fuel is subjected to heat or another energy source, e.g. a match or lighter, and are sustained by the further release of heat energy until all the combustible fuel is consumed.

Controlling fire

Controlling fire for the purposes of providing heat and light was one of humankind's first great achievements. The ability of fire to generate heat and light made possible migration to colder climates and enabled people to cook food ? a decisive step in the perennial fight against disease. Smoke signals were an early use of fire for communication, and fire soon enabled advancements in metallurgy such as smelting and forging. Archaeology indicates that ancestors of modern humans such as Homo erectus seem to have been using controlled fire as early as some 790,000 years ago. The Cradle of Humankind site has evidence for controlled fire 1 million years ago.

Related Topics:
Heat - Light - Human - Cook - Disease - Smoke signals - Metallurgy - Smelting - Forging - Archaeology - Homo erectus - Cradle of Humankind

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By the time of the Neolithic introduction of grain based agriculture, people the world over used fire as a tool in landscape management. These fires were typically controlled "cool fires," as opposed to uncontrolled "hot fires" that damage the soil. Such hot fires destroy plants and animals, and endanger communities. All too often this is a problem in the forests of today where traditional burning is prevented in order to encourage the growth of timber crops. Cool fires are generally conducted in the spring and fall. They clear undergrowth, burning up biomass that could trigger a hot fire should it get too dense. They provide a greater variety of environments, which encourages game and plant diversity. For humans, they make dense, impassable forests traversable.

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Today, the applications of fire are numerous. Beyond its use as an energy source in engines and power plants, fire is used for such varied purposes as incinerating waste, smoking, and as a weapon.

Related Topics:
Incinerating - Smoking - Weapon

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In fact, the use of fire by militaries has a long history. Homer detailed its use by Greek commandoes who hid in a wooden horse to burn Troy during the Trojan war.

Related Topics:
Homer - Commandoes - Wooden horse - Troy - Trojan war

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Greek Fire and its modern contemporary napalm are chemical solutions that are burned to disable, kill, or destroy infrastructure.

Related Topics:
Greek Fire - Napalm

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