To this end, research was conducted on crude oil, from which kerosene was obtained by distillation. Naphtha was first made from natural bitumen by Abraham Gesner, a Canadian physician and geologist considered one of the fathers of the petrochemical industry. The product Gesner discovered was patented under the name "kerosene" and is mainly known by that name today in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
The method of obtaining kerosene from crude oil was developed first by Filip Neriusz Walter, a Polish chemist specializing in organic chemistry and natural products chemistry. He was also the creator of Polish chemical nomenclature. He was the first to distill kerosene from crude oil and study its properties. As a result of his work, kerosene became a common commodity, initially as a pharmaceutical, until the construction of the kerosene lamp. In 1847 the French government awarded him the Cross of the Legion of Honour for his scientific merits.
