火　药

　　火药是中国古代的“四大发明”之一。

　　火药的配方最初是由中国古代炼丹家在炼制丹药的过程中发现的。后来，人们根据这个配方，将硝石、硫磺、木炭按一定比例配制在一起，制成了黑火药。唐朝中期的书籍里，就记载了制造这种火药的方法。火药发明后，先是被制成了爆竹和焰火，到了唐朝末年，开始用于军事。北宋时，火药在军事上大量使用，那时候的火药武器有突火枪、火箭、火炮等。

　　公元1225-1248年之间，火药和火药武器经由阿拉伯传到欧洲。因为制造火药的主要原料硝石洁白如雪，所以火药被阿拉伯人称为“中国雪”和“中国盐”。火药传到欧洲后，被各国用来制造兵器，还在开山、修路、挖河等工程中广泛使用，火药的使用促进了工业革命的到来。

　　The formula of the gunpowder was first discovered by Taoist alchemists of ancient China when trying to make pills of immortality. Later, people made up black gunpowder with niter, sulfur and charcoal of certain proportions on the basis of the formula. Books of the middle Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) recorded the method of producing this kind of gunpowder. It was first used to make firecrackers and fireworks, and then used in military affairs in the late Tang Dynasty. In the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127 AD), gunpowder-based weapons such as rockets and cannon were widely used.

　　Between 1225 and 1248, gunpowder and the related weapons spread to Europe via Arabia. Since the major raw material of gunpowder niter is as white as snow, Arabians called gunpowder “Chinese Snow"and "Chinese Salt".After gunpowder spread into Europe, it was not only used in weapons, and also for cutting through mountains, constructing roads, and digging rivers. The invention of gunpowder accelerated the coming of the Industrial Revolution.