Abstract
THE conversion of fibrous materials into cloth or felt has commanded the attention of civilized man from earliest times, and over the years a great deal of skill in the manipulation of a wide variety of naturally occurring fibres has been acquired. The existence of subtle differences between the various grades of fibres is well established, and the selection and blending of raw materials plays an important part in successful commercial processing. Prior to 1904, when the first edition of "Matthews" was published, most of the information on textile fibres was an accumulation of the observations of inquiring growers and industrialists; but in more recent times scientifically trained chemists, physicists and biologists have been attracted by the many problems involved in elucidating the structure of fibres and in investigating their physical and chemical properties. Great advances in our knowledge of the basic characteristics of textile fibres have resulted from work of this type, and there are now sufficient data available to justify a chemical interpretation of the fine structure of most fibrous materials. Probably the greatest contribution of the scientific worker to textiles has been, however, the development of the rayon industry to a size comparable with that of industries concerned with the natural fibres. New rayons with extremely interesting manufacturing possibilities have been introduced, and the day is not far distant when fibres will be made to precise specifications laid down by users.
Matthews' Textile Fibers : their Physical, Microscopical and Chemical Properties
Fifth edition, prepared by a Staff of Specialists under the editorship of Herbert R. Mauersberger. Pp. xvi + 1133. (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1947.) 75s. net.
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WHEWELL, C. Matthews' Textile Fibers : their Physical, Microscopical and Chemical Properties. Nature 161, 581–582 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/161581b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/161581b0
