Iron Man, Superhero or Superzero?

First of all, unless your name is Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Wolverine, or are a member of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles you are NOT a superhero. Know your role and stick to it.  You are only embarrassing yourself and will be relegated to the forgotten and laughable likes of Silver Surfer, Green Lantern, or that big rock dude from the Fantastic 4. Forget old school, I don’t even want to start with these fake “superheros” that all the poor kids have to deal with in these new cartoons. Iron Man, you are most definitely a Superzero.

Ok, now what I really wanted to talk about 🙂 I am currently talking a materials science class called Materials that Shaped Civilization and it mentioned the first uses of iron by mankind. The first iron implements used by man were fabricated out of iron that came from meteorites. Also, the reason why it took so long for the Iron Age to replace the Bronze Age was became of the very high temperatures needed to smelt iron from its ores found on Earth. Much of it was used to make very strong steel swords (steel is iron with maybe 0.2% carbon) in the past, and the entire industrial revolution was based on iron/steel. That may not sound very interesting, but the AMAZING and MIND BLOWING part comes after I read the Quran.

In Surah Al-Hadeed, or the Chapter Iron, Allah (swt) mentions another scientific miracle in the Quran. He (swt) says:

We sent aforetime our apostles with Clear Signs and sent down with them the Book and the Balance (of Right and Wrong), that men may stand forth in justice; and We sent down Iron, in which is (material for) mighty war, as well as many benefits for mankind,that God may test who it is that will help, Unseen, Him and His apostles: For God is Full of Strength, Exalted in Might (and able to enforce His Will).  (Quran, 57:25)

Pay special attention to how Allah (swt) mentions iron as being sent down. As my professor mentioned, as well as researchers at NASA, iron was sent down to the Earth because there is nowhere near enough energy in the entire solar system to even produce a single atom of iron.

Another translation of the same ayat states:

…We sent down iron having severe heat…

Which would also explain the very high melting temperature that caused the delay of transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age.

Here is a video that also explains the miracle of Iron in the Quran.

Also, in the course I was really pleased how the professor mentioned that after the Muslims took over Constantinople (modern day Istanbul, Turkey) and the Eastern Roman Empire they took great care in preserving the ancient Greek manuscripts, knowledge, and language while the Christians in the Western Roman Empire were burning all of the ‘hethen’ literature. The Christians in the Western Roman Empire completely lost the language and knowledge and only after interactions (albeit very hostile at first) with Muslims during the Crusades did they regain this knowledge and caused the Reniasance to occur. In addition, the Muslim Moors in Spain were masters in designing Toledo Steel to make the strongest swords through their advanced knowledge of the properties of iron.

Although Iron Man may not be an amazing superhero, he has an amazing origin for his metal gear.