Henry Bessamer invented the process by which the steel age began. This is detail from the first Bessamer converter, used to produce the first cast of steel in the world. While I prefer a couple of my other shots from the (metal filled) Science Museum, this seems to me to be the most appropriate.
From the Science Museum:
The Steel Age began in the 1850s when Henry Bessamer, a prolific inventor, undertook crucial experiments aimed at finding a malleable form of iron, strong enough to make gun barrels. Previously, both machine building and civil engineering had mainly relied on wrought iron, which is relatively malleable, but soft and wek, or cast iron, which is hard but brittle.
Bessamer produced steel, a form of iron with a much lower percentage of carbon than the three percent that is usual in cast iron, by blowing air into molten pig iron, causing some of the carbon to oxidise and burn out. The violence of the chemical reaction sustained the process without the need for the addition of further fuel.
The example shown here is a converter from a pilot plant used at the Barrow Hermatite Steel Company Ltd, Barrow in Furness, to produce the first cast of steel in May 1865. The low phosphorous ore necessary to replicate Bessemer's experimental results was readily available in the area.
File Name
IMG_7856.JPG
Camera Model
Canon EOS 20D
Shooting Date/Time
18/06/2005 15:39:54
Shooting Mode
Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed )
1/13
Av( Aperture Value )
2.8
Metering Mode
Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation
-2
ISO Speed
800
Lens
50.0 mm
Focal Length
50.0 mm
Image Size
3504x2336
Image Quality
Fine
Flash
Off
White Balance Mode
Tungsten
AF Mode
One-Shot AF
Parameters Settings
Contrast Standard
Sharpness Standard
Color saturation Standard
Color tone 0
Color Space
sRGB
Noise Reduction
Off
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A unique image that certainly fits the challenge but seems to lack some punch, I realize the object itself is probably dark but I wonder if a little more light would help it. I like the placement within the picture.
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