March of Aluminium, The

Synopsis: In the mid-19th century aluminium was a precious metal. By the 1930s it was a bulk material, used in aircraft manufacture, electrical cables, kitchenware and motor cars. By 1950 its applications were beginning to multiply again to include window frames, kitchen foil and buildings, as wartime manufacturing capacity was hurriedly adapted for peacetime markets. Central to the availability of aluminium was the supply of cheap electricity for a new manufacturing process, electrolysis. Traces the increasing uses of aluminium as the manufacturing process was progressively improved at hydroelectric smelting plants in the Scottish Highlands. Features rare archive film from the aluminium industry.
Series: Science, Technology and Everyday Life 1870-1950, Course A282
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Video; Videocassette. Standard formats. col. 25 min.
Year of production: 1987
Availability: OUT OF DISTRIBUTION
Subjects: Technology
Keywords: aluminium; history of science; history of technology; metallurgy

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