A century ago, baking used to be done on stone or clay bakeware. Modern aluminum or metallicbakeware made an incredible difference in how people cooked.
"Metal pots are made from a narrow range of metals because pots and pans need to conduct heat well, but also need to be chemically unreactive so that they do not alter the flavor of the food. Most materials that are conductive enough to heat evenly are too reactive to use in food preparation."
