Until the mid-1800s, lighting a fire was a painstaking and frustrating process. Tinder---shredded wood pulp, dried grass or wool---had to be ignited with sparks created by striking a coarse stone against steel then stoked with oxygen into a small flame until hot enough to light firewood. Matches were an improvement but often dangerous, because they were made with highly combustible yellow phosphorus. The safety match was invented by a Swedish professor in 1844 and is still in use today. You…