<P> Steel is an alloy composed of between 0.2% and 2.0% carbon, and the balance of iron . From prehistory through the creation of the blast furnace, iron was produced from iron ore as wrought iron, 99.82% - 100% Fe, and the process of making steel involved adding carbon to the iron, usually via serendipity in the forge or via the cementation process . The introduction of the blast furnace reversed the problem . A blast furnace produces pig iron, which is an alloy of approximately 90% iron and 10% carbon . If the process of steelmaking begins with pig iron instead of wrought iron, the challenge is to remove a sufficient amount of carbon to get it to the 0.2 to 2 percent for steel . </P> <P> Before about 1860 steel was an expensive product, made in small quantities and used mostly for swords, tools and cutlery; all large metal structures were made of wrought or cast iron . Steelmaking was centered in Sheffield, Britain, which supplied the European and the American markets . The introduction of cheap steel was due to the Bessemer and the open hearth processes, two technological advances made in England . In the Bessemer process, molten pig iron is converted to steel by blowing air through it after it was removed from the furnace . The air blast burned the carbon and silicon out of the pig iron, releasing heat and causing the temperature of the molten metal to rise . Henry Bessemer demonstrated the process in 1856 and had a successful operation going by 1864 . By 1870 Bessemer steel was widely used for ship plate . By the 1850s, the speed, weight, and quantity of railway traffic was limited by the strength of the wrought iron rails in use . The solution was to turn to steel rails, which the Bessemer process made competitive in price . Experience quickly proved steel had much greater strength and durability and could handle the increasingly heavy and faster engines and cars . </P> <P> After 1890 the Bessemer process was gradually supplanted by open - hearth steelmaking and by the middle of the 20th century was no longer in use . The open - hearth process originated in the 1860s in Germany and France . The usual open - hearth process used pig iron, ore, and scrap, and became known as the Siemens - Martin process . Its process allowed closer control over the composition of the steel; also, a substantial quantity of scrap could be included in the charge . The crucible process remained important for making high - quality alloy steel into the 20th century . By 1900 the electric arc furnace was adapted to steelmaking and by the 1920s, the falling cost of electricity allowed it to largely supplant the crucible process for specialty steels . </P> <P> Britain led the world's Industrial Revolution with its early commitment to coal mining, steam power, textile mills, machinery, railways, and shipbuilding . Britain's demand for iron and steel, combined with ample capital and energetic entrepreneurs, made it the world leader in the first half of the 19th century . </P>

Development of steel and the development of railroads