It was when I saw the countless number of icebergs floating in the North Atlantic Ocean in August 1964 that I decided to commence research into the solidification mechanism of metals, and already I have been continu ing this research for two decades. In 1970 my former professor Susumu Miyata received a letter from Pre sident Jiro Komatsu of the Tokyo Keigokin Seisaskusho Co., Ltd. The letter enclosed a copy of an article written by Mr. Imao Sasaki, chief of the casting research section at Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd., entitled "Aruminyumu gyoko riron no shimpo" (Progress in aluminum solidi...