ReMaking History, Volume 3

Chapter 6 Hans Goldschmidt and the Invention of Thermite

One of the most powerful chemical processes used in industry is called the thermite reaction. Thermite is a mix of two common chemicals—iron oxide, better known as rust, and powdered aluminum. When these chemicals are combined and ignited, the mixture burns hot enough to melt iron. Wilhelm Ostwald, a Nobel Prize–winning chemist, called the reaction “a blast furnace that fits in a vest pocket” because you can use it to produce overheated liquid steel within a fraction of a second wherever and whenever you have the need.

Goldschmidt Discovers Thermite

Dr. Hans Goldschmidt, a 19th-century ...