If you can readily remember that water constitutes 80% of a human body but don’t know that the body of a grown-up person contains as well 140 mg of aluminium, it’s the time for you to look it up in the first encyclopaedia of aluminium!
If you plan to participate in a TV show or a quiz, no-one will compare to you after you read this marvellous book giving in-depth information on the most prevalent metal on Earth - Aluminium.
This captivating edition introduces the reader to the history of the discovery, production and numerous applications of this silvery metal – from decorative and fine arts to uses in the military and aerospace, from light industry and automobiles to architecture and design.
This unique encyclopedia dedicated to the thirteenth element of the Mendeleev’s periodic table alone can tell you that the oldest object containing 85% of aluminium is dated III century B.C. and that aluminium compounds are present besides the Earth on the Moon and the Mars! You will also find out that in 1860s all women of fashion in Paris could not do without at least one aluminium decoration in their attire, as at that time the lightweight metal was valued more than silver or gold.
In the turbulent twentieth century aluminium kept producing sensations. With the course of time it stopped being a great rarity that in the past used to cost as much as precious metals. But gradually aluminium turned from an exotic metal into an indispensable material for architects, engineers and designers, allowing many of them to realize their dreams. In 1967 the American fashion designer Oscar de la Renta caused a real sensation in the fashion industry with his bikini on extremely thin aluminium thread.
It is almost 200 years since its first appearance and aluminium has changed many aspects of the world in which we live and even earned the name “the metal of the future”. Aluminium by right is first associated with jet planes and spaceships that would have been simply impossible to build without the metal. Silvery ‘winged’ metal has become the symbol of the human ambition to reach the sky. And everybody agrees that the twenty-first century promises to become the age of aluminium.
The present encyclopedia edition is published as a part of the ‘RUSAL Library’ publishing project and targets different audiences. A serious, encyclopedic approach towards the history of the thirteenth element can kindle the interest of teenagers, be an indispensable reference guide for students and help professionals in their job.
The publishers of the present edition consider it very important to make the broad audience acquainted with unique features of aluminium - the metal that surrounds us in our everyday life. Aluminum has a long history and a wide range of spheres where it can be applied, which will be broadened even further by using the competitive advantages of this "metal of the future".