Sydney Gilchrist Thomas

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Sydney Gilchrist Thomas

1850-1885

English inventor and metallurgist who, with his cousin Percy Gilchrist, developed an improved iron-smelting process that removed phosphorus. The Gilchrist-Thomas process made superior iron by removing phosphorus impurities that resulted in brittle, poor-quality iron. This development made it possible to use many of the large European iron deposits that contained phosphorus, effectively doubling the potential world's ability to produce steel.