Titanium was once regarded as a chemical curiosity. When it turned up as an impurity in certain iron ores, it was reclassified as a chemical nuisance. Then chemists learned how to remove titanium from iron ore, and found that its oxide is intensely white. So titanium dioxide got a job as a pigment for white paints. But until recently no one had much hope for the pure element as a metal. Getting it out of its ores in metallic form was very difficult.
Last week the Du Pont Co. announced that it was making about...
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