The Meritocratic Ascendance of Cast Iron: from Magic to Virtual Cast Iron

摘要

Unlike in a democracy where selection criteria serve the concept of political equality between the members of the category, meritocracy means equality of opportunity rather than outcome.The US economy was built on meritocratic principles. The world of sports is meritocratic, as building a winning culture is crucial, and so is the world of materials. Cast iron, a material with impressive longevity going back to at least the 5th century BC, survived in the materials competition based on merit. A review of these merits is one of the objectives of this lecture. However, as developing the material properties that kept cast iron competitive is rooted in knowledge, a short escapade in the history of knowledge pertinent to cast iron will also be attempted. The US iron casting production has continuously decreased since 1990. A discussion of the effect of generation and transfer of knowledge and of ill-advised and debatable environmental constrains is provided.