The metallography of meteoric iron

A systematic treatment of the metallography of meteoric iron was prompted by the author's experience in describing an iron meteorite by metallographic methods somewhat more than a decade ago. After that, a search of the literature proved scanty for any new meteorite being described in a similar manner. The present work aims to apply metallography, both theoretically and practically, to the study of iron meteorites. To that end the author has attempted to give a sufficient outline to the metallography of artificial iron and its alloys to enable the reader to interpret meteoritic structures; the principal types and structural features are described and illustrated; methods of research are explained; and finally a somewhat comprehensive bibliography is presented.