HONOURING A BRITISH PIONEER

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 166, 9 April 1920, Page 7

HONOURING A BRITISH PIONEER

MIGIIOSCOPIC STUDY OP METALS,

At a symposium held iu London England, by the Faraday Society, the Royal Microscopical Society, the Optical Society, and the Photomicrogruphic bociety on the design and uses of the microscope, fitting tribute was paid to the pioneer work of the late D- Sorbv, of Sheffield. It was Sorby wlio first' hit' upon the notion of studyiti" the structure of rocks by cutting thin slices and examining theiu under the microscope. In the face of ridicule lie continued his experiments until ho had founded the science of microscopic petrography. When Sorby turned his attention to the structure of meteorites, ho found it impracticable to obtain thin sections and accordingly lie developed the plan of etching a polished surface with acid and examining it" mltfrosconically under reflected light. Thus he gave birth to the microscope study of iron, steol, ana other metals—a study which has been of incalculable benefit to industry. One remarkable fact about this British genms is that he did all his work in a privnto room in his house, with only the simplest materials. As Sir Robert Hadfickl remarked at the symposium, "from the humblest, of beginnings this method of research Ims grown into n giant."