THE IMMORTAL MEMORY
The authors of this CD-ROM produced in 2001 a major chapter
on the History of the British Iron and Steel Research Association (BISRA) for
the book, British Iron and Steel
AD1800-2000 and Beyond, published by the Institute of Materials, Minerals
and Mining. This chapter has been revised and considerably expanded for
publication in CDROM format, which has allowed the inclusion of additional
information and a large number of photographs.
The
CD is in two parts. The first shows how co-operative research evolved in the UK steel
industry leading to the formation of BISRA in 1944. During the next 24 years,
laboratories were established in London, Middlesbrough, Sheffield and Swansea,
each focussed on a specific aspect of technology and the related basic
sciences. The industry and government jointly financed the Association with
industry providing an increasingly larger share over the years. BISRA became part of the British Steel Corporation
in 1968 but continued to operate as a separate entity until 1971.
In the second part, an extensive selection of
research activities is presented to illustrate the work of the Association.
Project areas described cover the whole of steel production route starting with
blast furnace raw materials through to mechanical working and strip coating
operations, and the development and properties of steels. The selected topics
include projects that were commercially successful and those that were not.
There is often much to be learned from the latter, where the research work
receives less publicity and may eventually be forgotten.
There are appendices with photographs of
laboratories and open days; listings of staff; extracts from staff magazines;
and photographs of social events. The photographs are from archive sources or
have been loaned by former employees to whom we are most grateful.
The management philosophy at BISRA is given special
mention under its highly influential Director, Sir Charles Goodeve. The
Scientific Staff were recognised and supported as being at the core of
a highly creative organisation and this has led us to entitle this monograph
BISRA-The Immortal Memory.
The CD has been produced privately
and is available from the authors at a charge of £10 (Eur15 or US$20) to help
cover costs and postage. Please contact one of the authors for details of how
to obtain a disk.
Also available: British Steel Research Achievements 1970-90
By P. H. Scholes with a Foreword by Dr F. Fitzgerald
The CD with a searchable bibliography is priced at £10.
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