William Metcalf

Born in Pittsburgh in 1838, William Metcalf built his career in iron and steel manufacturing and studied at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, graduating in 1858. He worked in the industry through the Civil War era and went on to become a respected figure in American engineering and metallurgy.

Metcalf is chiefly remembered as the author of Steel: A Manual for Steel-Users (1896), a technical book drawn from decades of practical experience. In its introduction, he explained that years in the steel trade had brought him into constant contact with questions from blacksmiths, toolmakers, machine builders, and engineers, and the book was written to answer those real-world problems clearly and usefully.

He was also active in professional engineering circles, serving as president of the American Institute of Mining Engineers in 1881 and later leading the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1893. He died in Pittsburgh in 1909, leaving behind a reputation rooted in applied knowledge rather than theory alone.