metallurgy

One of the things that strikes me about the society we live in, even in this age of synthetics, is how many things are made out of metal. I recall one writer who marveled on the stupendous number of inventions that require springs, and how fortunate it is, therefore, that springs are some of...

I thought I'd asked this before, but if so, I can't remember the response. How do I go about identifying the metal from which something is made? Wholly destructive testing is not an option, but scratching it or disfiguring a small portion is not a problem. I have an ashtray (actually it...