In the vernacular of corrosion, it.is common to refer to phenomena as classics: “classic stress corrosion” or “classic hydrogen embrittlement.” I have always been offended by the use of the word, “classic,” in this case because it is not definitive. Further, for those who are familiar with the nuance of the stress corrosion cracking controversies, the idea that there is such a thing as classic “stress corrosion cracking” is grossly misleading.
Nonetheless, there is a basis for invoking the term “classic” but in perhaps a “classic” sense. In May of 1975, I was flying from San Francisco to Columbus with Markus Speidel who was at that time in our laboratory and who is now at Brown, Boveri and Company. I had been urging him for some time to read Emerson’s classic essay, “Compensation.” Part way through the essay Markus mentioned to me that Emerson had upstaged present pressure vessel design...
