Overview

The History of Stainless Steel provides a fascinating glimpse into a vital material that we may take for granted today. Stainless steel, called “the miracle metal” and “the crowning achievement of metallurgy” by the prominent metallurgist Carl Zapffe, is a material marvel with an equally fascinating history of people, places, and technology. As stainless steel nears the hundredth anniversary of its discovery, The History of Stainless Steel by Harold Cobb is a fitting perspective on a vital material of our modern life. Aptly called the miracle metal by the renowned metallurgist Carl Zapffe, stainless steel is not only a metallurgical marvel, but its history provides an equally fascinating story of curiosity, competitive persistence, and entrepreneurial spirit. The History of Stainless Steel is the world’s first book that captures the unfolding excitement and innovations of stainless steel pioneers and entrepreneurs. Many new insights are given into the work of famous pioneers like Harry Brearley, Elwood Haynes, and Benno Strauss, including significant technical contributions of lesser known figures like William Krivsky. This fascinating history of stainless steel exemplifies the great push of progress in the 20th Century. From the stainless steel cutlery of Brearley in 1913, stainless steel burst on the modern scene in many tangible ways. Excerpted text by William Van Alen, architect of the Chrysler Building, describes the early architectural use of stainless steel. Another historic application of stainless steel is the revolution in rail travel by the Edward G. Budd Company, which built the first light-weight stainless steel passenger trains—with an astounding 90% reduction in fuel costs. This remains recognized today as one of the technological marvels of the modern world. Harold Cobb, a metallurgist who has spent much of his career in the stainless steel industry, uncovers many interesting stories and insights, including a special perspective on the prominent role of stainless steel in the activities of emerging technical societies such as the American Society for Metals and the American Society for Testing and Materials. Amply illustrated and with a 78-page timeline, this publication truly evokes the inspirations created by and from stainless steel.

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9781615030101

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Harold M. Cobb graduated from Yale University in 1942, receiving a B. E. Degree in Metallurgical Engineering. He has had a broad background in the stainless steel industry and has been involved in the development of many stainless steel products. He was one of the principal promoters and developers of the Unified Numbering System for Metals (UNS) which was organized jointly by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) in 1970. He served as Secretary of the U. S. Secretariat for the International Standards Committee ISO/TC17/SC12 on Carbon Steel Sheet and Strip for fifteen years. He has edited twenty-two books on steel, including works on carbon, alloy and coated steel sheet and strip, tool steels, stainless steel specifications and a Pocketbook of Standard Wrought Steels. In 1999 he became Editor of the Stainless Steels Products Manual, one of the sixteen steel products manuals that the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) initiated in the 1950s. In 2008, Cobb edited and substantially revised his second edition of Stainless Steels, now published by the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.

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