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The oldest of explosives, more commonly known
today as gunpowder though it was first used by the Chinese in firecrackers
and to propel black-powder rockets (see Chinese
fire-arrows) long before guns were invented. Its ingredients are
saltpeter, or potassium nitrate (about 75%), charcoal (about 15%), and
sulfur (about 10%). Knowledge of the explosive spread from China and other
parts of the far East to the Arab world and then to Western Europe by the
mid-13th century. Its preparation was described, for example, by Roger Bacon
and Albertus
Magnus.
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