Egyptian ink
Humans have accidentally been making use of nano-sized particles for thousands of years. For example, the ancient Egyptians made black ink that contained nanoparticles. But we call this chemistry rather than nanotechnology, because the ancient Egyptians couldn't see on the nano-scale - they just used its effects.
| 
Ink on papyrus dating from about 1200BC containing nanoparticles of soot.
Image: SSPL |
|
