Memoirs and Letters of Sidney Gilchrist Thomas, Inventor
Memoirs and Letters of Sidney Gilchrist Thomas, Inventor
R. W. Burnie
£30.99
GBPFirst published in 1891, this memoir describes the life of the metallurgist and inventor Sidney Gilchrist Thomas (1850–1885), best-known for discovering the method of eliminating phosphorus from pig iron which revolutionised the commercial production of steel. Professing a desire to give a 'true' account of a life in contrast to the somewhat hagiographic approach of some contemporary writers, Thomas' biographer, R. W. Burnie, sets out to construct 'a brief history of a very striking and individual character'. The details of Thomas' short life are narrated in 22 chapters, beginning with his early education, his work as a schoolmaster and police clerk whilst studying law and chemistry at night, his career, and his work-related travels, which took him everywhere from central Europe to New Zealand. The memoir also includes a postscript which reveals that Thomas left his considerable fortune to workers in steel production.
Product details
May 2011Paperback
9781108026918
334 pages
216 × 140 × 19 mm
0.43kg
2 b/w illus.
Available
Table of Contents
- Editor's preface
- 1. Early days
- 2. A summer tour
- 3. A 'double life'
- 4. The problem of dephosphorisation
- 5. Years of equipment
- 6. The problem theoretically solved – a German tour
- 7. 'Technical travel talk'
- 8. Experiments – a dash into Switzerland
- 9. The basic process publicly announced
- 10. The basic process described
- 11. Triumph
- 12. Dusseldorf – a gathering cloud
- 13. A visit to the United States
- 14. Health fails in earnest
- 15. South Africa
- 16. Mauritius and India
- 17. Ceylon, and the voyage to Australia
- 18. Australia
- 19. Homeward bound
- 20. A sad home-coming and a flight south
- 21. A winter in Algiers
- 22. The last days in Paris
- Conclusion.
