Abstract
DR. WALTER ROSENHAIN, who has been superintendent of the Metallurgy Department of the National Physical Laboratory for the past twenty-five years, is leaving the Laboratory in June to take up consulting work. As a skilled physicist and microscopist, as well as metallurgist and engineer, Dr. Rosenhain has added greatly to the instrumental means at the disposal of the metallurgist for the prosecution of his researches, while his close acquaintance with modern developments in physics has enabled him to bring the latest knowledge of atomic structure to bear upon the specific problems of the metallurgist. A large amount of original research is associated with his name, especially in relation to the physical structure of metals and alloys and the mechanism of failure under stress. Before and during the War he was largely responsible for the development of light alloys as used in aircraft construction and for parts of explosion engines. In this connexion, he investigated the mechanism of age-hardening, and introducedimproved methods of casting. He gave much atten tion to the production of metals in a high state of purity, for example, chromium, manganese, beryllium, and iron—the last, in particular, for the purpose of the researches on iron alloys carried out for the Alloys of Iron Research Committee of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Last year ho was awarded the Bessemer Gold Medal of the Iron and Steel Institute. In connexion with his metallurgical work it was necessary to give much time to the study of special refractories, and many improvements in laboratory furnaces and in metallurgical processes dependent on the use of better refractory materials are due to his initiative. Dr. Rosenhain has acquired an inter national reputation as a metallurgist.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
News and Views. Nature 127, 414–418 (1931). https://doi.org/10.1038/127414a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/127414a0