Silicon was used early in history in the form of silica used to make sharp flints and glass. Despite being used early in history and being abundant, Silicon was of little interest to chemists until the1800's.  Humphry Davy was one of the first chemists to inquire about the compostion of silica when he correctly guesses that it was a compound rather than an element. An impure form of Silicon was synthesized in 1811 by Joseph Gay Lussac and Louis Jacques Thenard by reacting Potassium metal and silicon tetrachloride. Years later in 1824 a pure sample of Silicon was obtained by Jons Jacob Berzelius who heated potassium fluorosilicate (K2[SiF6]) and Potassium metal obtaining a pure Silicon powder which he called silicium, later changed to Silicon to match with similar non-metal elements like Carbon and Boron.