In his 'Art of converting iron into steel and of rendering cast iron ductile,' Reamur "revealed for the first time hitherto secret details of the process and also came very close to the correct explanation of the nature of steel, that it is iron combined with a small quantity of carbon. Reamur's interests extended to tinplating, porcelain, a new thermometer scale, the history and social life of insects, and the artificial incubation of eggs. His scientific papers flowed on for half a century" (Hoover).