The Hindu Business Line : The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire

Hot news keeps pouring in about steel. Such as, promoters' stake in Tata Steel set to go up, in a bid to prevent a hostile takeover, even as L.N. Mittal is sighted closer home. Meanwhile, raking in the moolah at the box office, is Brandon Routh, the new `Man of Steel' in Superman Returns, already in the No. 1 spot, since its first show on June 28. Just the right time to come to terms with steel.

In the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, steel appears after steed (a horse) and before steenbok (an antelope). The word is defined as "a hard, strong grey or bluish grey alloy of iron with carbon and usually other elements, used extensively as a structural and fabricating material."

The Bard speaks of `hard bright steel and hearts harder than steel' in King Richard II. There are three things extremely hard, says Benjamin Franklin: "Steel, a diamond, and to know one's self."

Steel is not only hard, but strong too. Which explains why the word `steel' also means `strength and determination,' as in the `nerves of steel' that Swami Vivekananda spoke of, apart from `muscles of iron, and minds like thunderbolt'.

Steely resolve

After 9/11, the US President, Mr George W. Bush, said: "Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve." Praying for similar tenacity is this line in King Henry V: "O god of battles! Steel my soldiers' hearts."

To steel means "to make somebody unfeeling or tough enough to withstand a setback or trial, e.g. steeled myself for the news," states http://encarta.msn.com. A sonnet has a line that talks of `steel'd sense or changes right or wrong.'

There are more instances of steel getting into the body! You come across "One whose hard heart is button'd up with steel," in The Comedy of Errors. "A good leader needs to have a compass in his head and a bar of steel in his heart," avers Robert Townsend. Encounter Mark Antony describing himself as `a man of steel,' in Antony and Cleopatra. `Bow, stubborn knees; and, heart with strings of steel,' reads a line from Hamlet. And there are `ribs of steel' in Troilus and Cressida.

But, in Coriolanus, hear Marcius speak of steel growing as soft as `the parasite's silk'. It may seem oxymoronic to say soft steel, but steel low in carbon is called soft or mild steel. The properties of steel are closely linked to its composition, explains www.schoolscience.co.uk. "For example, there is a big difference in hardness between the steel in a drinks can and the steel used to make a pair of scissors. The metal in the scissors contains nearly 20 times as much carbon and is many times harder." While carbon content controls `carbon steel', alloying elements, which are added to increase corrosion resistance and high-temperature strength, control `alloy steel', educates Homeglossary.com.

"Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel," counsels Napoleon Hill. And Chuck Norris may agree, saying: "Men are like steel. When they lose their temper, they lose their worth." But golden touch could soften steel and stones, postulates Proteus in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Its many forms

All steel products are made from semi-finished steel that comes in the form of slabs, billets and blooms, notes www.indiansteelalliance.com. "Though today there are over 3,500 varieties of regular and special steel available, steel products can be broadly classified into two basic types according to their shape: flat and long products." The site has informative flowcharts depicting blast and electric arc furnace routes for producing steel.

Steel has competition from substitutes, especially in vehicle manufacturing. Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Glossary explains: "Although steel is used for most high-quality bicycle frames, the use of steel instead of aluminium for many parts is often the result of penny-pinching." Nobody should have to ride a modern bicycle with steel rims, brakes or handlebars, avers the glossary. For "the only reason steel is now used for these parts is to scrimp on costs."

Among the meanings for steel on Encarta is `something made of steel,' as for example a weapon. Catch up with `stabbing steel' in The Winter's Tale. "Treason has done his worst: nor steel, nor poison," says Macbeth referring to a situation where even weapons and toxins can fail. "Bloody steel grasp'd in their ireful hands," writes Shakespeare in King Henry VI. "Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd; and as he pluck'd his cursed steel away, mark how the blood of Caesar follow'd it," speaks Antony in Julius Caesar.

To Henry David Thoreau, though, "The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time." A difference that is as big as between a hostile and harmonious takeover.

Going to the root

Online Etymology Dictionary traces steel to Old English `style,' from West Germanic adjective stakhlijan `made of steel.' It also gives reference to Old Saxon stehli, Old Norse, Middle Low German stal, Danish staal, Swedish st{macr}l, Middle Dutch stael, Dutch staal, Old High German stahal, and German stahl.

Interestingly, the word is related to stakhla `standing fast,' from Proto-Indo-European. The base stak, meaning `to stand, place, be firm' is further explained in an entry on `stay', which in turn leads to stet, meaning `let it stand', and having roots in Sanskrit tisthati.

Steel appears in the archaeological record during the Iron Age, one learns from Archaeology Wordsmith. "Steel was usually produced by carburisation of wrought iron. In this process, the iron is heated in a hearth with charcoal to about 800 degrees Centigrade. Carbon diffuses into the surface of the metal to make steel."

Viking swords combined the strength of wrought iron with the hardness of steel, using a technique known as pattern welding, informs www.reference- wordsmith.com.

The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire, reminds John N. Mitchell. That, perhaps, applies to steel deals too.

ComingToTerms@TheHindu.co.in

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