56 MODERN SCIENCE OF METALS 



New Metallurgy. While it was only natural that 

 iron and its alloy steel should be chosen as the 

 first subjects for attack by the new methods, both 

 for scientific and practical purposes, yet the result 

 has been somewhat unfortunate, as it led to an 

 attack being made on the most difficult problems 

 before experience had been gained in dealing with 

 the simpler questions. The result has been that in 

 regard to iron and steel the progress of the New 

 Metallurgy has been shrouded in a cloud of con- 

 troversy and misconception which has greatly 

 interfered with its steady advancement. The 

 growth of the new science, and its practical applica- 

 tions, has, even so, been astonishingly rapid; had 

 it been possible to allow a sound scientific founda- 

 tion to be laid before complex practical problems 

 were attacked, some mistakes and set-backs would 

 certainly have been avoided. This aspect of the 

 history of the subject serves as a much-needed 

 warning that "research" undertaken with a directly 

 practical object may actually hinder progress 

 rather than assist it. Gradually, however, the 

 sound development of the subject on true scientific 

 lines has overtaken most of the earlier false starts, 

 so that a clear view of the whole subject together 

 with its effects on metallurgical technology is now 

 possible. Essentially, the New Metallurgy has 

 provided us with an entirely new and in large 

 measure unexpected insight into the inner structure 

 and constitution of metals and alloys, and with 



