Abstract
To all who are interested in the gradual development of our great iron industries, and especially the more recent development in America, this little volume may be of some interest. It, however, can hardly be said that the author has succeeded in carrying out the object he had in view, as stated in his preface, of presenting to intelligent persons a clear and concise description of the complex technical phenomena of iron- and steel-making. The author's apparent lack of detail technical knowledge has prevented his emphasising in his descriptions the fundamental principles involved in the various processes to which he refers. Thus, in dealing with the reduction of iron as it was practised during the various stages of development in passing from the Catalan forge to the modern blast furnace, there is not the slightest suggestion made that there is any chemical reaction between the iron ores and the fuel employed, and the lay reader would go away with the impression that the only function of the carbon, in whatever form it was used, was to act as a heating agent.
The Story of Iron and Steel.
By J. Russell Smith. Pp. xi+193. (London: Appleton and Co., 1908.) Price 2s. 6d. net.
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The Story of Iron and Steel . Nature 80, 126 (1909). https://doi.org/10.1038/080126b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/080126b0