De Re Metallica

About “De Re Metallica”

De Re Metallica is a non-fiction work by Georgius Agricola, originally written in Latin. It documents the state of mining, refining, and smelting metals during the 16th century. The book was published in 1556, a year after the author's death, due to delays in preparing the woodcuts. For 180 years after its publication, it remained the leading reference on mining. It also played an important role in the history of chemistry during its time. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.)