Inception of the journal (1928 - 1931)
The journal was conceived and created at a difficult time by outstanding representatives of the Russian technical intelligentsia. According to the proclamation of the Party Congress in 1925, the progress of socialist industrialisation was being realised across the country. As part of this process, gigantic metallurgical, chemical and machine-building enterprises were being assembled – the factories and mine works of the Kuzbass, the Rostov agricultural machinery plant, auto works in Moscow, Gor'kiy and many other large-scale objects. There were already many burgeoning new industries: aviation, radio industry... However, the quality of the products was not up to par. There were not enough qualified workers, engineers or scientists. Plant personnel were being supplemented by peasants. The situation in the system for managing the national economy was little better. Thousands of additional “nominees” were flooding into the ranks of “business executives”, under the leadership of experienced party organisers including as S. Ordzhonikidze, V.V. Kuibyshev, Ya.E. Rudzutak, S.S. Kamenev and I.S. Unshlicht.
The restructuring of the organs of control had begun. In 1928, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR established the Committee on the Chemicalisation of the National Economy (KHNH). Subsequently, this would come to play a crucial role in the establishment of the journal. In accordance with the resolution of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (5.01.32), the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy of the USSR (VSNKh) was transformed into the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry (NKTP) with the simultaneous formation of People's Commissariats of Light Industry and Timber. Sergo Ordzhonikidze, the Chairman of the Supreme Economic Council, ascribed importance to “the process of mastering technology on the basis of increasingly closer cooperation between research institutions and, in particular, the decisive strengthening of industrial laboratories”. The Presidium of the USSR Supreme Council of National Economy – at that time the supreme governing body of the national economy – endorsed the 9th February, 1931 decree that industrial laboratories should become the leading production authority of the enterprise. However, the condition of the industrial laboratories remained unsatisfactory. There was a shortage of personnel, technical, scientific and methodological support. The leaders of the KHNH understood the severity of the problems. The Central Council of Metal Industry Laboratories and the Laboratory Commission were formed under the chairmanship of the distinguished chemist and metallurgist Prof. Ehard Britske
One of the proposed means of solving the quality problem consisted in a special scientific and technical journal aimed at employees of enterprises – principally, laboratory specialists. The main work on the organisation of the future publication was carried out by the laboratory commission of the KHNH. As head of the commission, Britske became the first responsible editor of the magazine. An editorial board was created from 15 leading specialists in the fields of chemistry and metallurgy. Among them was the prominent chemist, Sergei Nikolayevich Ushakov, a practicing scientist who had studied synthetic materials. The scientific editor of the journal was Professor Vitaly V. Longinov of Moscow State University, Director of the Institute of Pure Chemical Reagents. The editorial board also included A.A. Armand, a member of the All-Union Thermal Engineering Institute.
First edition
The journal was committed for publication on March 11. The circulation was 3000 copies. Volume – 5.5 sheets (88 printed pages). The founders of the journal were the Scientific Research Council of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry and KHNH under the State Planning Committee of the USSR. The journal was prepared for publication by the publishing house Goskhimtekhizdat
In addition to the already mentioned scientists, the Editorial Board included: R.L. Weller (Engineer-Chemist at the Plant of Rare Elements), E.S. Gendler, A.M. Dymov (Specialist in Mining and Metallurgical Analysis), А.А. Emelianov (chemist), I.N. Efremov Engineer-Metallurgist), A.V. Ziskind, P.S. Panyutin, N.A. Tananaev (Chemist-Analyst, Professor of the Kiev Polytechnic Institute), B.S. Shvirev (Engineer-Metallurgist of the Krasny Proletariy Factory, I.S. Yaichnikov (Chemist, Moscow State University) – in total, 15 people.
In the structure of the journal, three main thematic areas were identified, represented by three departments: General, Analytical and Laboratory Technique.
The role of the General Department was the organisation of the effective functioning of the “factory-laboratory”.
The Analytical Department of the Journal was established to provide scientific and methodological support for the tasks of introducing reliable chemical, physical and mechanical methods into factory practice. The task of the Laboratory Technique Department was the publication of reports on new instruments and reagents in order to ensure the “comprehensive coverage of a whole range of issues of interest to factory employees in connection with the movement for the Industrial Laboratory”.
The edition concluded with an Abstracts section in which 27 German and 6 domestic publications were presented. The Abstracts were classified according to the objects of analysis: inorganic substances, iron and steel, materials and rocks, organic substances.
Pre-war years (1932 – 1941)
In the years leading up to the war, 10 volumes of the journal were published. In 1941, Volume X was interrupted at the 6th issue.
During this period, the incorporator of the journal changed. While in 1933 it was solely the Scientific Research Council of the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry; in 1939, the People's Commissariat; in 1940, in connection with the reforms, the People's Commissariats of Ferrous Metallurgy, Non-Ferrous Metallurgy, Chemical Industry and the General Engineering Industries of the USSR.
Of course, the journal was not immune to the heavy and tragic changes in society. From the second edition of 1932, N.I. Bukharin came onto the scene. Here he worked until 1936. In 1937, the first scientific editor of the journal was prof. V.V. Longinov; his place was taken by A.A. Eljanov, a former employee of the KHNH. In 1938, the People's Commissariat of the Tank Industry and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolshevik) “purged” AA. Armand, one of the founders of the journal, from the editorial office. During the pre-war period, a total of 36 specialists of science and industry worked at different times on the editorial board under the leadership of E.V. Britske. By the time of the last edition of the pre-war period, only R.L. Weller and A.M. Dymov remained from the original editorial team. The new members of the Editorial Board were professors E.S. Przhevalsky, A.P. Vinogradov, Associate Professor Yu.A. Klyachko and Professor M.L. Chepelevetsky (all following the methods of chemical analysis). Representing physical and mechanical research methods, the editorial board included corresponding members G.S. Landsberg and A.A. Bochvar, Professor N.P. Shchapov and two industry representatives – V.Ya. Riskin and Ya.P. Selissky.
The journal was further developed and improved. Its structure underwent certain changes as a result of industrial development and the formation of new ideas concerning the organisation of industrial laboratories. The most challenging in this respect was the work with publications on the organisation of laboratory work.
The contents of the first issue of the journal indicate that the predominant role in its creation was played by specialists in analytical chemistry. Therefore, the core of the first and subsequent issues was the Analytical Department. Leading analysts of the country including N.A. Tananaev, A.M. Dymov, A.P. Vinogradov, E.S. Przhevalsky, Yu.A. Klyachko, Yu.Yu. Lurie, M.L. Chepelevetskiy, I.P. Alimarin, Yu.A. Chernikhov were drawn to the work of the journal in these years. During the 30's and 40's, Industrial Laboratory was the only journal on analytical chemistry in the country and one of only three in the world.
The well-chosen strategic approach that largely predetermined the success of the publication is easily seen on the example of the Analytical Department. The journal was able to constantly support and maintain a flexible multi-level, multi-stage link between science and production, in the implementation of which all elements of the scientifically-organised system of methods of control and management in industry were based on the achievements of the relevant specialised branches of science.
The theoretical and practical achievements of analytical chemistry, for example, served as the basis for the unification of methods, the integrated approach to control in certain industries, the automation of analytical operations and control in general, the introduction of instrumental methods, and the organisation of work in analytical industrial laboratories. For a long time, the work in this area was directed and controlled by A.A. Eljanov. Work on the necessary metrological support, which was to become the basis for the first GOST standards, was headed by A.M. Dymov. .
In accordance with the logic of industrial development on the basis of the Analytical Department, two new sections “Physical Methods of Research” and “Mechanical Test Methods” were formed and then hived off.
The first five years of the history of the journal focused on three physical methods of investigation: light metallography, spectral and X-ray phase analysis. The direction of work related to the development of spectral methods of analysis was headed by the leading physicists G.S. Landsberg and S.L. Mandelstam.
the late 30's and early 40's, various physical (magnetic, magnetoelectric, etc.) non-destructive methods for determining defects in metals and alloys had proved effective. The first publications on the results of work on finished products and details started to appear. Particular attention was paid to the correct interpretation of the results of nondestructive testing.
The Mechanical Test Methods section began with publications on the determination of such simple strength and plastic characteristics of materials and semi-finished products as temporary resistance, yield stress at static stretching, impact strength, hardness, fatigue characteristics with the construction of the Veler curves from the results of tests of small smooth samples. The article by М.М. Khrushchev published in No. 2 in 1932 marked the beginning of the descriptions of tribological methods.
The journal started to acquire a stable authority in scientific and industrial circles. The resolutions and decrees of practically all the all-Union or large-scale sectoral meetings on the problems of researching materials and substances contain phrases like: “instruct the journal Industrial Laboratory to print and abstract the work on issues...” or “to concentrate in the journal information on all the works carried out in this field in the USSR and abroad.”
Post-war years
The first issue after the pause was committed to printing three months prior to the end of the war. Faithful to the traditions of the magazine, the editorial staff highlighted specific issues in this article: the role of laboratories in enterprises during the war years and the most important scientific and technical means by which the crucial task of production control was decided. Methods for analysing metals, such as spectral, potentiometric, polarographic, photocolorimetric, thermoelectric and the widespread use of magnetic defectoscopy methods were highlighted. Examples of the successful cooperation of laboratories with scientific and educational institutions were given.
The scientific and editorial board of the journal underwent some changes. Academician E.V. Britske, whose 70th birthday was to be celebrated two years later, was replaced by Academician I.P. Bardeen in the post of Editor-in-Chief. To the ranks of the members of the pre-war Board – A.A. Eljanov, E.V. Britske, A. M. Dymov, Yu.A. Klyachko, G.S. Landsberg, V.Ya. Riskin, I.L. Chepelevetsky and N.P. Shchapov – were added Academician N.N. Davidenkov, Professor I.P. Alimarin, Yu.Yu. Lurie, S.A. Mandelshtam and Yu.A. Chernikhov. S.A. Vekshinsky, the most senior specialist in the field of electrovacuum technology and technical physics, as well as being closely associated with production, also joined the editorial board.
In 1960, following the death of Academician I.P. Bardin, Professor Yu.A. Klyachko was appointed as Editor-in-Chief; he was to worked in this position until mid-1964. In the second half of 1964, Prof. M.V. Pridantsev became editor-in-chief. Since May 1982, the role of editor-in-chief was taken by N.P. Lakishev, initially Corresponding Member and then Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences; since January 2007, the position has been occupied by Yu.A. Karpov, Corresponding Member of the RAS.
Following the Great Patriotic War, a quantum leap was achieved in the development of the use of physical methods. The quantitative method used was the emerging science of metallography.
Readers were acquainted with new developing methods, which subsequently became widespread: luminescence, mass spectroscopic, nuclear-physical, electron microscopy, electronography, etc. New methods such as photoelectron and Auger spectroscopy, cathodoluminescence, high-sensitivity calorimetry, acoustic emission, holography, electron and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging were reflected in published papers.
The first works of V.V. Nalimova, who laid the foundations for the future Mathematical Research Methods section, were devoted to the use of statistical methods for the metrological evaluation of analytic results. Later, a series of publications would appear on the processing, planning and optimisation of a large number of experiments conducted using a variety of methodological approaches. In 1961, this direction was spun off into a separate section. Major contribution to this work were made by B.V. Gnedenko, V.V. Nalimov and others.
Since its inception in 1932, the journal Industrial Laboratory: Diagnosis of Materials has made a huge contribution to the development of Russian heavy industry.
In maintaining its high scientific level, significant roles were played in the development of the journal by such prominent scientists as Yu.A. Zolotov, Yu.A. Karpov, V.G. Gorsky, N.A. Makhutov, R.L. Barinsky, V.T. Bublik, E.M. Morozov, A.I. Orlov, L.N. Filimonov, M.N. Filippov, Yu.G. Matvienko and others.
The journal actively cooperates with a large team of reviewers, taking a strictly scientific approach to the provision of a qualitative review of materials.
Industrial Laboratory is included in the list of journals recommended by the Higher Attestation Commission of Russia for the publication of doctoral and candidate dissertations. The journal enjoys well-deserved recognition abroad and is often cited.
There can be no doubt that in future the structure and priorities of the journal will change, reflecting the constant movement of scientific and technological progress. In the future, in order to maintain its well-deserved high scientific and technical reputation and the actual efficiency of its work, it will be necessary to maintain a unceasing creative search for new forms and methods of submitting published materials, as well as to engage the widest possible collectivity of readers and authors in a discussion of emerging and salient problems.
Particular attention will be paid to the diagnosis of nanomaterials, the capabilities of modern analytical instruments and studies carried out by the best domestic and foreign laboratories. The works of young authors and graduate students will be given priority treatment.
The journal has long outgrown its original name. This journal is not only for workers in industrial laboratories, but also for specialists from universities, industrial research institutes, various research laboratories and law enforcement agencies.
