9.1.2: The History of Mining
Around 2600 BCE they began to quarry stone to build the Great Pyramids. By the Middle Ages, mining was common in Europe. Georgius Agricola (Figure 9.8), a German physician, wrote the first widely read book about mining, De re metallica, published in 1556. Agricola's work is said by some to represent the beginning of the science of mineralogy.