Unlocks medicine, agriculture, industry, and energy. Understanding chemical reactions lets you make soap, fertilizer, cement, dyes, and eventually explosives and pharmaceuticals. Requires Tier 2 (fire control, kilns) and Tier 3 (measurement, record-keeping).
Articles
- Soap Making — rendering fat with lye to produce soap for hygiene and sanitation
- Fertilizers — compost, manure, wood ash, and simple nitrogen fixation
- Natural Dyes — extracting color from plants, minerals, and insects
- Lime and Cement — burning limestone for morite, plaster, and concrete
- Acids and Alkalis — sulfuric, hydrochloric, nitric; potash, soda ash
- Gunpowder and Explosives — saltpeter extraction, charcoal mixing, safe handling
- Alcohol and Distillation — fermentation, stills, fuel alcohol, antiseptics
- Rubber and Polymers — natural latex, vulcanization, waterproofing
- Pigments and Paint — mineral pigments, binders, protective coatings
- Petroleum and Tar — wood tar, coal tar, crude oil distillation, waterproofing