The Teaching of Physical Metallurgy — a Rational Approach

In his inaugural lecture at Imperial College, Professor J. G. Ball pointed to the tendency of metallurgy to become a scientific discipline of logical inference, making teaching centred on plant skills, and the parrot‐learning of facts and alloy specifications quite out of date. The principles and practice of teaching with special reference to metallurgy have not received the attention accorded to allied subjects such as chemistry. The purpose of this article is to provoke thought, criticism and free discussion among those engaged in the dissemination of metallurgical knowledge.