De Re Metallica

Originally published in 1556, Agricola's "De Re Metallica" was the first book on mining to be based on field research and observation--what today we would call the "scientific method." It was therefore the first book to offer detailed technical drawings to illustrate the various specialized techniques of the many branches of mining, and the first to provide a realistic history of mining from antiquity to 1556. In 1912, the book was translated by Hebert Hoover, future president of the U.S. and printed in a limited quantity. The book contains a wealth of material on alluvial mining, alchemy, silver refining, smelting, surveying, timbering, nitric acid making and hundreds of other aspects of medieval mining practice. Profusely illustrated.