Abstract
THE time has passed when practical teaching in metallurgy was a synonym for little more than a course of exercises in assaying. No one recognised this sooner and more fully than Prof. Howe, and his students now devote much of their time in the laboratory to carrying out experiments illustrating the principles which underlie the various processes of the treatment of ores and metals in works. This little volume contains a description of ninety-one such experiments of both educational and instructive value, and constitutes the first attempt to embody the new methods in book form. The author expresses in the preface his feeling that the series of experiments now published is incomplete and shows a lack of balance, and probably many metallurgists will find themselves constrained to agree with him. Those teachers who are convinced that ore treatment is still by far the most important branch of the subject may object to a system in which the majority of the experiments are directed to the study of the treatment and properties of metals. Even the methods will not command universal approval in this country, where students are encouraged to learn to overcome the difficulties occasioned by the use of indifferent implements on the grounds that they will be better fitted by such training to deal with the more serious difficulties unavoidably encountered in the industries. The smoothing away of obstacles, and the reduction to a minimum of the practice in manipulation, have been characterised as “spoonmeat methods.” It must be admitted, however, that these views are likely to be held most firmly by the professors who are least adequately supplied with laboratory equipment. Prof. Howe considers that in proportion as less time is devoted to details of manipulation, more leisure is available to the student for “the unwelcome task of thinking,” than which nothing could be more important. Perhaps it might be argued that practice in manipulation would make the best laboratory workers, and that practice in thinking would assist in turning out the best general managers. The book is extremely welcome, and breaks ground that must soon be assiduously cultivated. It will be carefully studied by all who have the improvement in the training of metallurgists at heart.
Metallurgical Laboratory Notes.
By Henry M. Howe, Professor of Metallurgy in Columbia University. Pp. xiv + 140. (Boston: The Boston Testing Laboratories, 1902.)
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R., T. Metallurgical Laboratory Notes . Nature 68, 100 (1903). https://doi.org/10.1038/068100a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/068100a0