PREFACE - Any new book, certainly one dealing with technical matters, ought tosubmit something akin to a "certificate of necessity." While "necessity"is highly subjective, and capable of many shades of meaning, the plainfact of this case is that no concise dictionary of metallurgical terms,adapted to American needs, has hitherto been available. And so, if theneed but be granted, the author may be permitted to hope that thisvolume, in greater or lesser measure, fills the void.Not that perfection is expected-the ideal may not even be prayedfor in this all-too-imperfect world. Indeed, I realize that this bookmust inevitably contain at least a normal quota of error-sins of omissionand commission both. For such, ignorance and/or carelessnessmust take full responsibility; in the interest of future editions, I shallbe grateful for such corrections as may appear justified to the reader.No defense can be made, nor is any intended, for positive errors ofcommission. In a volume of this type, however, omissions may frequentlyreflect differing opinions as to what ought to be included. Probablyno two students of metallurgy would quite agree on the scope ofmaterial to be presented. The problem here has been further complicatedby a desire to serve, in this volume, lay workers at the benchand behind the torch no less than technologists with university training.As a consequence of this desire, many words and phrases in sciencesperipheral to metallurgy have been included; settin...