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> Even humans grasping the concept of solid-liquid-gas is a very recent historical thing, only happening in the last several hundred years

I bet people were heating up ice to melt it to get water way before that...

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Yes, but did they understand that the change occurring was a physical one, rather than a chemical one? As opposed to cooking other forms of food and beverage save for ice, which would fall under chemical reactions rather than phase transition.

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