LETTER pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
More on Onions’ Alloy Heinz J. Wagner* Theoretische Physik, Universit€at Paderborn, 33098 Paderborn, Germany ABSTRACT: This letter to the editor provides additional information concerning a recent paper about the history of Onions’ alloy. KEYWORDS: History/Philosophy read with interest the recent paper about “Onion’s Fusible Alloy” by William Jensen in the October 2010 issue of this Journal.1 As Jensen encouraged readers to provide further information on this subject, I hope the following remarks and references will be of assistance. The alloy in question is named after the British engineer William Onions2 who originally proposed it as filling for a rotative steam engine that was patented by him in 1812.3 Consequently, most of the references to its originator are to be found in the literature dealing with the history of the steam engine rather than in the conventional chemical and metallurgical literature.3-6 One further sees that the alloy should better be called “Onions’ alloy”7,8 rather than “Onion’s alloy”, despite the fact that the latter, inaccurate, spelling is frequently used on the Internet, by current suppliers of the alloy, and in the few 19thcentury references cited by Jensen.
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’ AUTHOR INFORMATION Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected].
’ REFERENCES (1) Jensen, W. B. J. Chem. Educ. 2010, 87, 1050–1051. (2) Anon. Gill’s Technical Repository 1822, 1, 348–349. (3) Dickinson, H. W.; Lee, A. Trans. Newcomen Soc. 1925, 4, 48-63 (especially pp 53-55). (4) Millington, J. An Epitome of the Elementary Principles of Natural and Experimental Philosophy, Part I; Plummer and Brewis, Printers: London, 1823; p 336. (5) Galloway, E. History of the Steam Engine, from Its First Invention to the Present Time; Cowie and Co.: London, 1826; pp 156-157. (6) Stuart, R. Historical and Descriptive Anecdotes of Steam-Engines and of Their Inventors and Improvers, Vol. II; Wightman and Cramp: London, 1829; pp 511-512. (7) Hiorns, A. H. Mixed Metals or Metallic Alloys; Macmillan: London, 1890; p 270. (8) Hopkins, A. A., Ed.; The Standard American Encyclopedia of Formulas; Grosset & Dunlap: New York, 1953; p 1068.
Published: February 23, 2011 Copyright r 2011 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed100995g | J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88, 542–542
