Wonderfully written article that focuses on the ecological and biological roles phosphorus plays. The author did leave out a bit of the discovery lore (perhaps on purpose) that my brain has failed to forget since learning as a youth-
Macquer gave him (the alchemist noted in OP article) formal credit in his textbook, writing that “the phosphorus here described was first discovered by a citizen of Hamburgh named Brandt, who worked upon urine in search of the Philosopher’s stone.” [1]
Of course i found this hilarious, but its a prime example of serendipity. [2]
Some odd and unsupported claims in that article, such as the assertion that the breakup of Pangaea caused an explosion of life due to more phosphorus becoming available.
That would be interesting if true, but I can't find much supporting it. There are theories that the breakup increased diversity through shallow seabeds - where the mineral runoff from landmasses accumulated where solar energy could also be harvested.
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Macquer gave him (the alchemist noted in OP article) formal credit in his textbook, writing that “the phosphorus here described was first discovered by a citizen of Hamburgh named Brandt, who worked upon urine in search of the Philosopher’s stone.” [1]
Of course i found this hilarious, but its a prime example of serendipity. [2]
[1] https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/hennig-brand...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serendipity
That would be interesting if true, but I can't find much supporting it. There are theories that the breakup increased diversity through shallow seabeds - where the mineral runoff from landmasses accumulated where solar energy could also be harvested.