Sir Robert Hadfield and the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R

Abstract

AT the luncheon given to Sir Robert Hadfield on February 28 by M. I. Maisky, the Soviet Ambassador in London, in honour of the election of Sir Robert as an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., it was recalled by M. Maisky that in 1831, Michael Faraday was also elected an honorary member of the Academy. Such events emphasise the internationalism of science. In Russia, since the revolution, new scientific institutes, labora tories and universities have been built, and science has made great progress; metallurgy in particular has been encouraged. In this work, Russia readily accepts foreign assistance. In his reply, Sir Robert Hadfield said that, to him, Russia is the land of Mendeléefl, whose work has been of fundamental importance in chemistry. He also spoke of the work of the well-known Russian metallurgist, the late Demetri Tschernoff, who did pioneer work on the metallography and scientific heat treatment of steel at a time when only empirical methods were used. His work, introduced to Great Britain by the late Sir William Anderson, led to the formation in 1881 by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, of a special committee, of which Tschernoff was himself a member, to report on the heat treatment of steel; this committee is still in existence as the Alloys Research Committee. Referring to the Iron and Steel Institute, Sir Robert pointed out that there are, at present, fourteen Russian members, and he expressed the hope that this number will be increased, with the future developments of science in that country. Sir Robert Hadfield's name is, of course, associated with manganese and silicon steels, and when speaking of Russia's vast mineral resources, he naturally singled out manganese, which is much used in the pro duction of high quality steel as well in the special alloy steels. Enormous deposits of this manganese ore occur in the valley of the Kvirila River, and Sir Robert anticipates heavy production during the next twenty years. Sir Robert concluded with a tribute to the interest in scientific development which is being shown in Russia.