Prima fonte, Cambridge University, F. Greenaway
Da pagina 294 a pagina 296:
A History of the Zinc Smelting Industry in Great Britain. By E. J. Cocks and B. Walters. London: Harrap. I968. Pp. vi+224, 42 illustr. /j2.75. The final words of the preface to this book arouse expectations: "Coal, iron, steel, textiles and railways have appeared to monopolise the attention of industrial historians hitherto, and a great deal more information on the development of the non-ferrous metals and chemical industries would help towards correcting the rather distorted picture that the average textbook gives of our continuing Industrial Revolution."
If this book fails to live up to the implied ambition to produce a revealingf work, it is because it is a piece d'occasion tied too tightly for historical perspective to the event which produced it, namely, "the 50th anniversary of the first beginnings of what is now the Imperial Smelting Corporation Limited, the group which has been, since 1933, the sole processor of primary zinc in Britain". The authors have attempted too much in trying to serve the economic historian, the scientist and connoisseur of management and finance expertise on every page. They would have done better to separate their material. However, it is important that company histories should be written because we can no longer write the history of science solely in terms of individuals and academic institu tions. One cannot, for example, write the history of our knowledge of gases, or of thermodynamics, without explaining the relations of Haber and Bosch to the B.A.S.F., nor the history of molecular structure without paying close attention to Du Pont. A journal* has been founded for the study of the history of industrial firms and it is desirable that more work should be done along these lines if the history of modern science is to be acceptable as part of the canon of modern history.
In this book one finds things to emulate and things to avoid. The best chapter (I4) is hors concours. This is contributed by S. W. K. Morgan, and describes the Imperial smelting process. It is in fact the technical core of the book. It summarizes briefly the early history of zinc smelting which is dealt with at greater length (but with less clarity) in Chapter i. It then goes on to describe rather recent events which have entailed a good deal of scientific research and have resulted in very important changes in the technology of zinc. It is only here that one's attention is directed to those distinctive features of zinc that affected its history. Observations like "the electrolytic process depends basically in what may be termed a quirk of nature" and "the problem of condensation has dominated the whole history of zinc", are characteristic of the constant steering of the reader's mind that make for good historical exposi tion. The chapter describes very clearly the complex new process based on thermodynamic reasoning and a grasp of the significance of the behaviour of the lead used as a liquation medium. It proceeds to the commercial and political consequences without discontinuity. A brief summary makes the historical point clear. "For the first time ever, zinc and lead could be produced at the same time, from the same furnace, and from mixed zinc/lead concentrates by an internally heated blast furnace instead of by externally heated retorts."
Two other chapters are valuable in showing how diversification can take place inside a single large industrial organization, nominally devoted to a single product but actually compelled to do far more. Several factors may operate: economic pressure to utilize waste products to advantage, social pressure (the Alkali Acts have done far more to promote chemical industry than to restrict it, as witness the development alongside zinc sulphide roasting of sulphuric acid manufacture), government intervention, notably in time of war (there is excellent material here for use in the never-ending debate on the effects of war on inventiveness) and, of course, research.
These chapters will be found useful and illuminating to anyone studying the history of sulphuric acid, fluorine, fertilizers and the non-ferrous metals. Scattered through the book are remarks on the processes and products that fail to make their mark (e.g. a cadmium-zinc bearing-metal). The drop-outs from scientific progress must be looked at or we shall foster a false belief in the productivity of science and technology, and one cannot accuse these authors of averting their eyes from failure.
The chief defect of the work is its poor organization. One author was Secretary of the Imperial Smelting Corporation and the other one of its scientific staff. It is not clear how they co-operated in their work but we are left with the impression of a patchwork of separate contributions. The narrative, although attempting analysis at times, is little more than a chronology for quite long stretches. However, it is a useful addition to the rather limited repertoire of works on the history of applied science.
The documentation consists of a list of sources such as Board papers of firms and government papers, and a classified list of a number of general works and reports. It would be quite difficult to follow up any particular reference in the body of the text. The single index is good on both names and subjects. There are 38 un-numbered illustrations. Sources are quoted for only a few. Printing and production are excellent.
F. GREENAWAY
* Tradition. Zeitschrift fur Firmengeschichte und Unternehmerbiographie. Verlag F. Bruckmann, Munich.
A History of the Zinc Smelting Industry in Great Britain. By E. J. Cocks and B. Walters. London: Harrap. I968. Pp. vi+224, 42 illustr. /j2.75. The final words of the preface to this book arouse expectations: "Coal, iron, steel, textiles and railways have appeared to monopolise the attention of industrial historians hitherto, and a great deal more information on the development of the non-ferrous metals and chemical industries would help towards correcting the rather distorted picture that the average textbook gives of our continuing Industrial Revolution."
If this book fails to live up to the implied ambition to produce a revealingf work, it is because it is a piece d'occasion tied too tightly for historical perspective to the event which produced it, namely, "the 50th anniversary of the first beginnings of what is now the Imperial Smelting Corporation Limited, the group which has been, since 1933, the sole processor of primary zinc in Britain". The authors have attempted too much in trying to serve the economic historian, the scientist and connoisseur of management and finance expertise on every page. They would have done better to separate their material. However, it is important that company histories should be written because we can no longer write the history of science solely in terms of individuals and academic institu tions. One cannot, for example, write the history of our knowledge of gases, or of thermodynamics, without explaining the relations of Haber and Bosch to the B.A.S.F., nor the history of molecular structure without paying close attention to Du Pont. A journal* has been founded for the study of the history of industrial firms and it is desirable that more work should be done along these lines if the history of modern science is to be acceptable as part of the canon of modern history.
In this book one finds things to emulate and things to avoid. The best chapter (I4) is hors concours. This is contributed by S. W. K. Morgan, and describes the Imperial smelting process. It is in fact the technical core of the book. It summarizes briefly the early history of zinc smelting which is dealt with at greater length (but with less clarity) in Chapter i. It then goes on to describe rather recent events which have entailed a good deal of scientific research and have resulted in very important changes in the technology of zinc. It is only here that one's attention is directed to those distinctive features of zinc that affected its history. Observations like "the electrolytic process depends basically in what may be termed a quirk of nature" and "the problem of condensation has dominated the whole history of zinc", are characteristic of the constant steering of the reader's mind that make for good historical exposi tion. The chapter describes very clearly the complex new process based on thermodynamic reasoning and a grasp of the significance of the behaviour of the lead used as a liquation medium. It proceeds to the commercial and political consequences without discontinuity. A brief summary makes the historical point clear. "For the first time ever, zinc and lead could be produced at the same time, from the same furnace, and from mixed zinc/lead concentrates by an internally heated blast furnace instead of by externally heated retorts."
Two other chapters are valuable in showing how diversification can take place inside a single large industrial organization, nominally devoted to a single product but actually compelled to do far more. Several factors may operate: economic pressure to utilize waste products to advantage, social pressure (the Alkali Acts have done far more to promote chemical industry than to restrict it, as witness the development alongside zinc sulphide roasting of sulphuric acid manufacture), government intervention, notably in time of war (there is excellent material here for use in the never-ending debate on the effects of war on inventiveness) and, of course, research.
These chapters will be found useful and illuminating to anyone studying the history of sulphuric acid, fluorine, fertilizers and the non-ferrous metals. Scattered through the book are remarks on the processes and products that fail to make their mark (e.g. a cadmium-zinc bearing-metal). The drop-outs from scientific progress must be looked at or we shall foster a false belief in the productivity of science and technology, and one cannot accuse these authors of averting their eyes from failure.
The chief defect of the work is its poor organization. One author was Secretary of the Imperial Smelting Corporation and the other one of its scientific staff. It is not clear how they co-operated in their work but we are left with the impression of a patchwork of separate contributions. The narrative, although attempting analysis at times, is little more than a chronology for quite long stretches. However, it is a useful addition to the rather limited repertoire of works on the history of applied science.
The documentation consists of a list of sources such as Board papers of firms and government papers, and a classified list of a number of general works and reports. It would be quite difficult to follow up any particular reference in the body of the text. The single index is good on both names and subjects. There are 38 un-numbered illustrations. Sources are quoted for only a few. Printing and production are excellent.
F. GREENAWAY
* Tradition. Zeitschrift fur Firmengeschichte und Unternehmerbiographie. Verlag F. Bruckmann, Munich.
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