PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
It is said that "if you give a man a fish, he applicability of certain techniques and to discour-
eats for a day; if you teach a man to fish, he eats
for a lifetime." This adage represents the entire
aim of science, that is, to characterize or explain
as wide a range of phenomena or conditions as
possible with the least number of rules. In short,
science generalizes to as large a degree as possi-
ble. To memorize a formula that applies to only
one set of conditions is no more learning science
than giving a man a fish is teaching him how to
fish. Yet many cultures, including our own,
continue to teach by requiring memorization of
rules or formulas. Students wind up learning
formulas they do not understand with little idea of
the underlying assumptions upon which they are
based (and conditions to which they apply.) The
result is students who show very little imagination
and extension of thought to solve new problems,
which is the very essence of science. The author
has seen students with a great deal of tenacity, but
not creativity, spend hours upon hours late into the
night attempting to find a solution to a problem by
searching dozens of books, rather than attempting
to solve it by thinking it through, using their own
internal resources.
This book stresses concepts and gives a series
of problems to demonstrate understanding of the
concepts rather than just the memorization of
"facts"; the difference results in the molding of a
mind into that of a scientist in preference to mold-
ing a mind into an insignificantly small, unreliable
data base.
I hope instructors who use this book make
the tests open book—after all, life in the mill is
open book—there is no point in teaching any other
way. Some of the problems in this book are
deliberately irrelevant to anything one might
encounter in reality to demonstrate the wide
age the student from trying to find a reference
book to solve the problem. Frequent "curve balls"
are included to keep one thinking in terms of the
"big picture"; that is, when problem solving in a
mill, one is not going to have all the necessary
information delivered on a silver platter. It is
important to figure out what information is re-
quired, what information is at hand, and where to
obtain the remainder of the information to solve a
problem. Often it is not what we do not know,
but rather what we think v/e know that is not true,
that causes us problems.
This book is designed as an educational tool
for pulp and paper science courses and a reference
book to those in industry. It is a scientific refer-
ence concentrating on principles of pulp and paper
processes rather than the multitudinous types of
equipment available to carry out these processes.
TAPPI Standard methods are emphasized, but
many of the TAPPI Standards give references to
related methods such as those of ASTM, CPPA,
SCAN, ISO, and APPITA.
Material is presented roughly in the same
order as material flows through the pulp and paper
mill. The first section of the book covers funda-
mentals, and later sections cover more advanced
treatments. It is impossible to present so much
information on so many diverse areas and supply
all of the necessary background in each section
without undue duplication. Also, one does not
like to burden the novice with details only impor-
tant to a few investigators. It is appropriate to use
the extensive index as the ultimate, alphabetical
guide to this volume to find all of the material
available on a particular topic.
The author welcomes your comments regard-
ing this book and suggestions for teaching aids.