This chapter presents a brief review of the history of brazing and soldering. It illustrates complicated soldering techniques and masterful goldsmith work, as demonstrated by the famous gold mask of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The chapter includes the image of a painting from Egypt circa 1475 B.C. that shows a goldsmith soldering with a blowpipe. Numerous similar images have been found in the tombs of ancient Egypt that offer insight into the practices of gold workers from the period, including the use of processes such as smelting, forging, and joining with both brazing and soldering.

This chapter describes the process steps in the production of smelter grade aluminum, the environmental issues with aluminum production, and the importance of recycling. It also provides a discussion on the refining, or Bayer, process and the smelting, or Hall-Héroult, process.