The Blast Furnace and The Manufacture of Pig Iron

New York: David Willims Company, 1913. - 368 p.The author begs to say that this volume is not offered as an exhaustive treatment of the subject, but is designed primarily for beginners. He feels that recent writers on iron metallurgy
have addressed themselves too exclusively to those who are already well versed in its mysteries. As a student, he sought in vain for a simple and concise statement of the general principles; as a teacher, he longed for one to recommend to his students; in practical work he, has had to admit to many ambitious workmen that there was nothing in the literature of the subject that
came within their grasp. For more than a decade he has felt that there was need of such a treatment on lines essentially American, and now has attempted to supply it. He is well aware that there are many others better fitted to undertake the task. Their failure to do so is the best possible reason for his presumption.
The Fahrenheit scale and the British Thermal Unit have been given preference in the text, because they are more frequently encountered in engineering writings in English, and because data in tnose units are more readily obtained in this country. The insertion of Centigrade equivalents is more confusing than helpful, and the change, if desired, is readily made.
The marginal references are intended primarily as guides to collateral reading. They may or may not indicate the source of authority for the contiguous statements. They may only refer to a discussion from another point of view. Chapter VII is not offered as a complete discussion of furnace design, but merely as a guide by which the untechnical furnaceman may test the suitability of his equipment. The chapter on the uses of pig iron is added in the belief that no manufacturer can approach his task intelligently unless he understands the limitations of his product. The, brief review of the principles of chemistry and physics in Appendix I is intended primarily for untechnical readers, although it is hoped that it may serve to recall to others the principles which underlie the heat calculations in Chapter V.