author
Arthur Douglas Lumb
d. 1938
A mining engineer and metallurgist, he wrote clearly about the science and industrial importance of platinum-group metals at a time when they were becoming strategically important. His best-known book blends practical knowledge from the field with early twentieth-century technical expertise.
1 Audiobook
The platinum metals
by Arthur Douglas Lumb
About the author
Arthur Douglas Lumb was a British mining engineer and technical writer best known for The Platinum Metals (1920). Contemporary records show that he was educated at Harrow, trained at the Royal School of Mines, and earned the A.R.S.M. in mining in 1910.
His career was closely tied to geology and mining. He worked on the Mineral Survey of Southern Nigeria under Sir Albert Kitson, later returned to England to lecture in mining, and during the First World War served in the Royal Engineers. He later became associated with mining work in West Africa and was noted for his professional interest in ore deposits and mineral resources.
Lumb died on February 4, 1938. Although he is not widely known today, his surviving work reflects a practical, informed approach to metallurgy and mining science, especially in explaining the occurrence and commercial value of platinum metals for general readers and specialists alike.