Up to about 1870 railroad rails were made of iron because the cost of making steel in quantity was prohibitive. Then the converters invented by Henry Bessemer got going and steel became much cheaper.

YOUR reviewer (NATURE, December 8, p. 831) asks me to give “the date of construction of the last new Bessemer plant erected in Great Britain for steel manufacture.” I am indebted to Mr. Lloyd, the ...

Iron has been used by human civilizations for over three millennia. The Iron Age saw the popularization of ironworking, as blacksmiths learnt to heat, hammer, and shape the metal into tools, weapons, ...

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PROF. CARPENTER is evidently right, and I am glad that he has corrected my mistake in reference to the Bessemer converter,—the statement as to the Leblanc process was, I believe, correct. It would be ...