The steel cable of a colliery winding tower

Steel is an alloy made by combining iron and another element, usually carbon. When carbon is used, its content in the steel is between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Other alloying elements sometimes used are manganese, chromium, vanadium and tungsten.^[1] Carbon and other elements act as a hardening agent, preventing dislocations in the iron atom crystal lattice from sliding past one another. Varying the amount of alloying elements and the form of their presence in the steel (solute elements, precipitated phase) controls qualities such as the hardness, ductility, and tensile strength of the resulting steel. Steel with increased carbon content can be made harder and stronger than iron, but such steel is also less ductile than iron.

Alloys with a higher than 2.1% carbon content are known as cast iron because of their lower melting point and good castability.^[1] Steel is also distinguishable from wrought iron, which can contain a small amount of carbon, but it is included in the form of slag inclusions. Two distinguishing factors are steel's increased rust resistance and better weldability.

Though steel had been produced by various inefficient methods long before the Renaissance, its use became more common after more efficient production methods were devised in the 17th century. With the invention of the Bessemer process in the mid-19th century, steel became an inexpensive mass-produced material. Further refinements in the process, such as basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS), lowered the cost of production while increasing the quality of the metal. Today, steel is one of the most common materials in the world, with more than 1.3 billion tons produced annually. It is a major component in buildings, infrastructure, tools, ships, automobiles, machines, appliances, and weapons. Modern steel is generally identified by various grades defined by assorted standards organizations.

Material properties[link]

Iron-carbon phase diagram, showing the conditions necessary to form different phases

Iron is found in the Earth's crust only in the form of an ore, usually an iron oxide, such as magnetite, hematite etc. Iron is extracted from iron ore by removing the oxygen and combining the ore with a preferred chemical partner such as carbon. This process, known as smelting, was first applied to metals with lower melting points, such as tin, which melts at approximately 250 °C (482 °F) and copper, which melts at approximately 1,100 °C (2,010 °F). In comparison, cast iron melts at approximately 1,375 °C (2,507 °F). All of these temperatures could be reached with ancient methods that have been used since the Bronze Age. Since the oxidation rate itself increases rapidly beyond 800 °C (1,470 °F), it is important that smelting take place in a low-oxygen environment. Unlike copper and tin, liquid iron dissolves carbon quite readily. Smelting results in an alloy (pig iron) containing too much carbon to be called steel.^[2] The excess carbon and other impurities are removed in a subsequent step.

Other materials are often added to the iron/carbon mixture to produce steel with desired properties. Nickel and manganese in steel add to its tensile strength and make austenite more chemically stable, chromium increases hardness and melting temperature, and vanadium also increases hardness while reducing the effects of metal fatigue. To prevent corrosion, at least 11% chromium is added to steel so that a hard oxide forms on the metal surface; this is known as stainless steel. Tungsten interferes with the formation of cementite, allowing martensite to form with slower quench rates, resulting in high speed steel. On the other hand, sulfur, nitrogen, and phosphorus make steel more brittle, so these commonly found elements must be removed from the ore during processing.^[3]

The density of steel varies based on the alloying constituents but usually ranges between 7,750 and 8,050 kg/m³ (484 and 503 lb/cu ft), or 7.75 and 8.05 g/cm³ (4.48 and 4.65 oz/cu in).^[4]

Even in the narrow range of concentrations which make up steel, mixtures of carbon and iron can form a number of different structures, with very different properties. Understanding such properties is essential to making quality steel. At room temperature, the most stable form of iron is the body-centered cubic (BCC) structure α-ferrite. It is a fairly soft metallic material that can dissolve only a small concentration of carbon, no more than 0.021 wt% at 723 °C (1,333 °F), and only 0.005% at 0 °C (32 °F). If steel contains more than 0.021% carbon at steelmaking temperatures then it transforms into a face-centered cubic (FCC) structure, called austenite or γ-iron. It is also soft and metallic but can dissolve considerably more carbon, as much as 2.1%^[5] carbon at 1,148 °C (2,098 °F), which reflects the upper carbon content of steel.^[6]

When steels with less than 0.8% carbon, known as a hypoeutectoid steel, are cooled from an austenitic phase the mixture attempts to revert to the ferrite phase, resulting in an excess of carbon. One way for carbon to leave the austenite is for cementite to precipitate out of the mix, leaving behind iron that is pure enough to take the form of ferrite, resulting in a cementite-ferrite mixture. Cementite is a hard and brittle intermetallic compound with the chemical formula of Fe₃C. At the eutectoid, 0.8% carbon, the cooled structure takes the form of pearlite, named after its resemblance to mother of pearl. For steels that have more than 0.8% carbon the cooled structure takes the form of pearlite and cementite.^[7]

Perhaps the most important polymorphic form is martensite, a metastable phase which is significantly stronger than other steel phases. When the steel is in an austenitic phase and then quenched it forms into martensite, because the atoms "freeze" in place when the cell structure changes from FCC to BCC. Depending on the carbon content the martensitic phase takes different forms. Below approximately 0.2% carbon it takes an α ferrite BCC crystal form, but higher carbon contents take a body-centered tetragonal (BCT) structure. There is no thermal activation energy for the transformation from austenite to martensite. Moreover, there is no compositional change so the atoms generally retain their same neighbors.^[8]

Martensite has a lower density than austenite does, so that transformation between them results in a change of volume. In this case, expansion occurs. Internal stresses from this expansion generally take the form of compression on the crystals of martensite and tension on the remaining ferrite, with a fair amount of shear on both constituents. If quenching is done improperly, the internal stresses can cause a part to shatter as it cools. At the very least, they cause internal work hardening and other microscopic imperfections. It is common for quench cracks to form when water quenched, although they may not always be visible.^[9]

Heat treatment[link]

There are many types of heat treating processes available to steel. The most common are annealing and quenching and tempering. Annealing is the process of heating the steel to a sufficiently high temperature to soften it. This process occurs through three phases: recovery, recrystallization, and grain growth. The temperature required to anneal steel depends on the type of annealing and the constituents of the alloy.^[10]

Quenching and tempering first involves heating the steel to the austenite phase, then quenching it in water or oil. This rapid cooling results in a hard and brittle martensitic structure.^[8] The steel is then tempered, which is just a specialized type of annealing. In this application the annealing (tempering) process transforms some of the martensite into cementite, or spheroidite to reduce internal stresses and defects, which ultimately results in a more ductile and fracture-resistant metal.^[11]

Steel production[link]

Iron ore pellets for the production of steel

When iron is smelted from its ore by commercial processes, it contains more carbon than is desirable. To become steel, it must be melted and reprocessed to reduce the carbon to the correct amount, at which point other elements can be added. This liquid is then continuously cast into long slabs or cast into ingots. Approximately 96% of steel is continuously cast, while only 4% is produced as cast steel ingots.^[12] The ingots are then heated in a soaking pit and hot rolled into slabs, blooms, or billets. Slabs are hot or cold rolled into sheet metal or plates. Billets are hot or cold rolled into bars, rods, and wire. Blooms are hot or cold rolled into structural steel, such as I-beams and rails. In modern foundries these processes often occur in one assembly line, with ore coming in and finished steel coming out.^[13] Sometimes after a steel's final rolling it is heat treated for strength, however this is relatively rare.^[14]

History of steelmaking[link]

Bloomery smelting during the Middle Ages

Ancient steel[link]

Steel was known in antiquity, and may have been produced by managing bloomeries, or iron-smelting facilities, in which the bloom contained carbon.^[15]

The earliest known production of steel is a piece of ironware excavated from an archaeological site in Anatolia (Kaman-Kalehoyuk) and is about 4,000 years old.^[16] Other ancient steel comes from East Africa, dating back to 1400 BC.^[17] In the 4th century BC steel weapons like the Falcata were produced in the Iberian Peninsula, while Noric steel was used by the Roman military.^[18] The Chinese of the Warring States (403–221 BC) had quench-hardened steel,^[19] while Chinese of the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) created steel by melting together wrought iron with cast iron, gaining an ultimate product of a carbon-intermediate steel by the 1st century AD.^[20][21] The Haya people of East Africa invented a type of high-heat blast furnace which allowed them to forge carbon steel at 1,802 °C (3,276 °F) nearly 2,000 years ago.^[22]

Wootz steel and Damascus steel[link]

Evidence of the earliest production of high carbon steel in the Indian Subcontinent was found in Samanalawewa area in Sri Lanka.^[23] Wootz steel was produced in India by about 300 BC.^[24] Along with their original methods of forging steel, the Chinese had also adopted the production methods of creating Wootz steel, an idea imported into China from India by the 5th century AD.^[25] In Sri Lanka, this early steel-making method employed the unique use of a wind furnace, blown by the monsoon winds, that was capable of producing high-carbon steel.^[26] Also known as Damascus steel, wootz is famous for its durability and ability to hold an edge. It was originally created from a number of different materials including various trace elements. It was essentially a complicated alloy with iron as its main component. Recent studies have suggested that carbon nanotubes were included in its structure, which might explain some of its legendary qualities, though given the technology available at that time, they were produced by chance rather than by design.^[27] Natural wind was used where the soil containing iron was heated up with the use of wood. The ancient Sinhalese managed to extract a ton of steel for every 2 tons of soil^{[citation needed]}, a remarkable feat at the time. One such furnace was found in Samanalawewa and archaeologists were able to produce steel as the ancients did long ago.^[26][28]

Crucible steel, formed by slowly heating and cooling pure iron and carbon (typically in the form of charcoal) in a crucible, was produced in Merv by the 9th to 10th century AD.^[24] In the 11th century, there is evidence of the production of steel in Song China using two techniques: a "berganesque" method that produced inferior, inhomogeneous steel and a precursor to the modern Bessemer process that used partial decarbonization via repeated forging under a cold blast.^[29]

Modern steelmaking[link]

A Bessemer converter in Sheffield, England

Since the 17th century the first step in European steel production has been the smelting of iron ore into pig iron in a blast furnace.^[30] Originally using charcoal, modern methods use coke, which has proven to be a great deal cheaper.^[31][32][33]

Processes starting from bar iron[link]

In these processes pig iron was "fined" in a finery forge to produce bar iron (wrought iron), which was then used in steel-making.^[30]

The production of steel by the cementation process was described in a treatise published in Prague in 1574 and was in use in Nuremberg from 1601. A similar process for case hardening armour and files was described in a book published in Naples in 1589. The process was introduced to England in about 1614.^[34] It was produced by Sir Basil Brooke at Coalbrookdale during the 1610s. The raw material for this were bars of wrought iron. During the 17th century it was realised that the best steel came from oregrounds iron from a region of Sweden, north of Stockholm. This was still the usual raw material in the 19th century, almost as long as the process was used.^[35][36]

Crucible steel is steel that has been melted in a crucible rather than being forged, with the result that it is more homogeneous. Most previous furnaces could not reach high enough temperatures to melt the steel. The early modern crucible steel industry resulted from the invention of Benjamin Huntsman in the 1740s. Blister steel (made as above) was melted in a crucible or in a furnace, and cast (usually) into ingots.^[36][37]

Processes starting from pig iron[link]

A Siemens-Martin steel oven from the Brandenburg Museum of Industry

White-hot steel pouring out of an electric arc furnace

The modern era in steelmaking began with the introduction of Henry Bessemer's Bessemer process in 1858. His raw material was pig iron.^[38] This enabled steel to be produced in large quantities cheaply, thus mild steel is now used for most purposes for which wrought iron was formerly used.^[39] The Gilchrist-Thomas process (or basic Bessemer process) was an improvement to the Bessemer process, lining the converter with a basic material to remove phosphorus. Another improvement in steelmaking was the Siemens-Martin process, which complemented the Bessemer process.^[36]

These were rendered obsolete by the Linz-Donawitz process of basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS), developed in the 1950s, and other oxygen steelmaking processes. Basic oxygen steelmaking is superior to previous steelmaking methods because the oxygen pumped into the furnace limits impurities.^[40] Now, electric arc furnaces (EAF) are a common method of reprocessing scrap metal to create new steel. They can also be used for converting pig iron to steel, but they use a lot of electricity (about 440 kWh per metric ton), and are thus generally only economical when there is a plentiful supply of cheap electricity.^[41]

Steel industry[link]

Steel production by country in 2007

It is common today to talk about "the iron and steel industry" as if it were a single entity, but historically they were separate products. The steel industry is often considered to be an indicator of economic progress, because of the critical role played by steel in infrastructural and overall economic development.^[42]

In 1980, there were more than 500,000 U.S. steelworkers. By 2000, the number of steelworkers fell to 224,000.^[43]

The economic boom in China and India has caused a massive increase in the demand for steel in recent years. Between 2000 and 2005, world steel demand increased by 6%. Since 2000, several Indian ^[44] and Chinese steel firms have risen to prominence like Tata Steel (which bought Corus Group in 2007), Shanghai Baosteel Group Corporation and Shagang Group. ArcelorMittal is however the world's largest steel producer.

In 2005, the British Geological Survey stated China was the top steel producer with about one-third of the world share; Japan, Russia, and the US followed respectively.^[45]

In 2008, steel began trading as a commodity on the London Metal Exchange. At the end of 2008, the steel industry faced a sharp downturn that led to many cut-backs.^[46]

Recycling[link]

Contemporary steel[link]

Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania was one of the world's largest manufacturers of steel before its 2003 closure.

Modern steels are made with varying combinations of alloy metals to fulfill many purposes.^[3] Carbon steel, composed simply of iron and carbon, accounts for 90% of steel production.^[1] High strength low alloy steel has small additions (usually < 2% by weight) of other elements, typically 1.5% manganese, to provide additional strength for a modest price increase.^[47] Low alloy steel is alloyed with other elements, usually molybdenum, manganese, chromium, or nickel, in amounts of up to 10% by weight to improve the hardenability of thick sections.^[1] Stainless steels and surgical stainless steels contain a minimum of 11% chromium, often combined with nickel, to resist corrosion (rust). Some stainless steels, such as the ferritic stainless steels are magnetic, while others, such as the austenitic, are nonmagnetic.^[48]

Some more modern steels include tool steels, which are alloyed with large amounts of tungsten and cobalt or other elements to maximize solution hardening. This also allows the use of precipitation hardening and improves the alloy's temperature resistance.^[1] Tool steel is generally used in axes, drills, and other devices that need a sharp, long-lasting cutting edge. Other special-purpose alloys include weathering steels such as Cor-ten, which weather by acquiring a stable, rusted surface, and so can be used un-painted.^[49]

Many other high-strength alloys exist, such as dual-phase steel, which is heat treated to contain both a ferritic and martensitic microstructure for extra strength.^[50] Transformation Induced Plasticity (TRIP) steel involves special alloying and heat treatments to stabilize amounts of austentite at room temperature in normally austentite-free low-alloy ferritic steels. By applying strain to the metal, the austentite undergoes a phase transition to martensite without the addition of heat.^[51] Maraging steel is alloyed with nickel and other elements, but unlike most steel contains almost no carbon at all. This creates a very strong but still malleable metal.^[52] Twinning Induced Plasticity (TWIP) steel uses a specific type of strain to increase the effectiveness of work hardening on the alloy.^[53] Eglin Steel uses a combination of over a dozen different elements in varying amounts to create a relatively low-cost metal for use in bunker buster weapons. Hadfield steel (after Sir Robert Hadfield) or manganese steel contains 12–14% manganese which when abraded forms an incredibly hard skin which resists wearing. Examples include tank tracks, bulldozer blade edges and cutting blades on the jaws of life.^[54]

Most of the more commonly used steel alloys are categorized into various grades by standards organizations. For example, the Society of Automotive Engineers has a series of grades defining many types of steel.^[55] The American Society for Testing and Materials has a separate set of standards, which define alloys such as A36 steel, the most commonly used structural steel in the United States.^[56]

Though not an alloy, galvanized steel is a commonly used variety of steel which has been hot-dipped or electroplated in zinc for protection against rust.^[57]

Uses[link]

A roll of steel wool

Iron and steel are used widely in the construction of roads, railways, other infrastructure, appliances, and buildings. Most large modern structures, such as stadiums and skyscrapers, bridges, and airports, are supported by a steel skeleton. Even those with a concrete structure will employ steel for reinforcing. In addition, it sees widespread use in major appliances and cars. Despite growth in usage of aluminium, it is still the main material for car bodies. Steel is used in a variety of other construction materials, such as bolts, nails, and screws.^[58] Other common applications include shipbuilding, pipeline transport, mining, offshore construction, aerospace, white goods (e.g. washing machines), heavy equipment such as bulldozers, office furniture, steel wool, tools, and armour in the form of personal vests or vehicle armour (better known as rolled homogeneous armour in this role). Steel was the metal of choice for sculptor Jim Gary and a frequent choice for sculpture by many other modern sculptors.

Historical[link]

A carbon steel knife

Before the introduction of the Bessemer process and other modern production techniques, steel was expensive and was only used where no cheaper alternative existed, particularly for the cutting edge of knives, razors, swords, and other items where a hard, sharp edge was needed. It was also used for springs, including those used in clocks and watches.^[36] With the advent of speedier and thriftier production methods, steel has been easier to obtain and much cheaper. It has replaced wrought iron for a multitude of purposes. However, the availability of plastics in the latter part of the 20th century allowed these materials to replace steel in some applications due to their lower cost and weight.^[59]

Long steel[link]

A steel pylon suspending overhead powerlines

• As reinforcing bars and mesh in reinforced concrete
• Railroad tracks
• Structural steel in modern buildings and bridges
• Wires
• Input to reforging applications

Flat carbon steel[link]

• Major appliances
• Magnetic cores
• The inside and outside body of automobiles, trains, and ships.

Stainless steel[link]

A stainless steel gravy boat

• Cutlery
• Rulers
• Surgical equipment
• Wrist watches

Low-background steel[link]

Steel manufactured after World War II became contaminated with radionuclides due to nuclear weapons testing. Low-background steel, steel manufactured prior to 1945, is used for certain radiation-sensitive applications such as Geiger counters and radiation shielding.

See also[link]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Ashby, Michael F.; Jones, David Rayner Hunkin (1992). An introduction to microstructures, processing and design. Butterworth-Heinemann. 
• Bugayev, K.; Konovalov, Y.; Bychkov, Y.; Tretyakov, E.; Savin, Ivan V. (2001). Iron and Steel Production. The Minerva Group, Inc.. ISBN 978-0-89499-109-7. http://books.google.com/?id=MJdIVtmwuUsC. Retrieved 2009-07-19. .
• Degarmo, E. Paul; Black, J T.; Kohser, Ronald A. (2003). Materials and Processes in Manufacturing (9th ed.). Wiley. ISBN 0-471-65653-4. 
• Gernet, Jacques (1982). A History of Chinese Civilization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Smith, William F.; Hashemi, Javad (2006). Foundations of Materials Science and Engineering (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-295358-6. 

Further reading[link]

• Duncan Burn; The Economic History of Steelmaking, 1867–1939: A Study in Competition. Cambridge University Press, 1961.
• Harukiyu Hasegawa, The Steel Industry in Japan: A Comparison with Britain. 1996.
• J. C. Carr and W. Taplin, History of the British Steel Industry. Harvard University Press, 1962.
• H. Lee Scamehorn, Mill & Mine: The Cf&I in the Twentieth Century. University of Nebraska Press, 1992.
• Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Part 1 & Part 3. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
• Warren, Kenneth, Big Steel: The First Century of the United States Steel Corporation, 1901–2001. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Steel

Look up steel in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• World Steel Association (worldsteel)
• steeluniversity.org: Online steel education resources from worldsteel and the University of Liverpool
• Extensive picture gallery of iron and steel production methods in North America and Europe
• Interactive knife steel composition chart and comparison graph builder
• Huge archive on steels, Cambridge University
• Steel classification chart

Danielle Steel
Born	Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel (1947-08-14) August 14, 1947 (age 64) New York City, U.S.
Pen name	Danielle Steel
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	American
Period	1978–present
Genres	mainstream, romance
Spouse(s)	Claude-Eric Lazard (1965–1974; divorced) Danny Zugelder (1975–1978; divorced) William Toth (1978–1981; divorced) John Traina (1981–1998; divorced) Tom Perkins (1998–2002; divorced)
Signature
www.daniellesteel.com

Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel (born August 14, 1947), better known as Danielle Steel, is an American romantic novelist and author of mainstream dramas.

Best known for drama and romance novels, Steel has sold more than 800 million copies of her books (as of 2005) worldwide and is the fourth best selling writer of all time, and is currently the bestselling author alive. Her novels have been on the New York Times bestseller list for over 390 consecutive weeks^[1] and 22 have been adapted for television.

Early years[link]

Steel was born in New York City, the only child of Norma da Câmara Stone dos Reis and John Schulein-Steel. Her father was a German Jewish immigrant, a descendant of the founders of Löwenbräu beer. Her mother, born in Portugal, was the daughter of a diplomat.^[2][3][4][5] Steel was raised Catholic and had wanted to be a nun during her early years.^[6] She spent much of her childhood in France,^[7] where from an early age she was included in her parents' dinner parties, giving her an opportunity to observe the habits and lives of the wealthy and famous.^[4] Her parents divorced when she was eight, however, and she was raised primarily in New York City and Europe by her father, rarely seeing her mother.^[1]

Steel started writing stories as a child, and by her late teens had begun writing poetry.^[8] A graduate of the Lycée Français de New York, class of 1963,^[9] she studied literature design and fashion design,^[8] first at Parsons School of Design in 1963 and then at New York University from 1963–1967.^[10]

Early career[link]

In 1965, when she was only 18, Steel married banker Claude-Eric Lazard.^[11] While a young wife, and still attending New York University, Steel began writing, completing her first manuscript the following year, when she was nineteen.^[8] After the birth of their daughter, Beatrix, in 1966,^[12] Steel worked for a public relations agency in New York called Supergirls for several years. A magazine client was highly impressed with her freelance articles and encouraged her to focus on writing and suggested she write a book, which she did. She later moved to San Francisco, and worked for Grey Advertising, as a copywriter.

Personal life[link]

After nine years of marriage and many years of separation, Steel and Lazard divorced. In 1972 her first novel, Going Home, was published. The novel contained many of the themes that her writing would become known for, including a focus on family issues and human relationships.

While still married to Lazard, Steel met Danny Zugelder while interviewing an inmate in a prison near Lompoc, California, where Zugelder was also incarcerated. He moved in with Steel when he was paroled in June 1973, but returned to prison in early 1974 on robbery and rape charges. After receiving her divorce from Lazard in 1975, she married Zugelder in the prison canteen. She divorced him in 1978, but the relationship spawned Passion's Promise and Now and Forever, the two novels that launched her successful career.^[5]

Steel married her third husband, William Toth, the day after her divorce from Zugelder was finalized. She was already 8½ months pregnant with his child, Nicholas. With the success of her fourth book, The Promise, she became a participant in San Francisco high society while Toth, a former drug addict, was left out. They divorced in March 1981.^[5]

Steel married for the fourth time in 1981, to vintner John Traina.^[12] Traina subsequently adopted Steel's son Nick and gave him his family name. Together they had an additional five children, Samantha (April 14, 1982), Victoria (September 5, 1983), Vanessa (December 18, 1984), Maxx (February 10, 1986) and Zara (September 26, 1987).^[11][12]

Coincidentally, beginning with her marriage to Traina in 1981, Steel has been a near-permanent fixture on the New York Times hardcover and paperback bestsellers lists. In 1989, she was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having a book on the New York Times Bestseller List for the most consecutive weeks of any author—381 consecutive weeks at that time.^[13] Since her first book was published, every one of her novels has hit bestseller lists in paperback, and each one released in hardback has also been a hardback bestseller.^[1] During this time Steel also contributed to her first non-fiction work. Having a Baby was published in 1984 and featured a chapter by Steel about suffering through miscarriage.^[14] The same year she also published a book of poetry, Love: Poems.^[15]

Steel also ventured into children's fiction, penning a series of 10 illustrated books for young readers. These books, known as the "Max and Martha" series, aim to help children face real life problems: new baby, new school, loss of loved one, etc. In addition, Steel has authored the "Freddie" series. These four books address other real life situations: first night away from home, trip to the doctor, etc.^[15]

Determined to spend as much time as possible with her own children, Steel often wrote at night, making do with only four hours of sleep, so that she could be with her children during the day.^[1] Steel is a prolific author, often releasing several books per year.^[13] Each book takes 2½ years to complete,^[8] so Steel has developed an ability to juggle up to five projects at once, researching one book while outlining another, then writing and editing additional books.^[13]

Nicholas Traina[link]

In 1993 Steel sued a writer who intended to disclose in her book that her son Nick was adopted by her then-current husband John Traina, despite the fact that adoption records are sealed in California.^[1] A San Francisco judge made a highly unusual ruling allowing the seal on Nick's adoption to be overturned, although he was still a minor. The order was confirmed by a California Appellate Judge, who ruled that because Steel was famous, her son's adoption did not have the same privacy right,^[1] and the book was allowed to be published.^[16]

The son at the center of the lawsuits, Nicholas Traina, committed suicide in 1997 as a result of bipolar disorder.^[17] Traina was the lead singer of San Francisco punk bands Link 80 and Knowledge. To honor his memory, Steel wrote the nonfiction book His Bright Light, about Nick's life and death. Proceeds of the book, which reached the New York Times Non-Fiction Bestseller List^[15] were used to found the Nick Traina Foundation, which Steel runs, to fund organizations dedicated to treating mental illness.^[18] To gain more recognition for children's mental illnesses, Steel has lobbied for legislation in Washington, and previously held a fundraiser every two years (known as The Star Ball) in San Francisco.^[19]

1997–present[link]

Steel married for a fifth time, to Silicon Valley financier Tom Perkins, but the marriage ended after four years in 2002.^[20] Steel has said that her novel The Klone and I was inspired by a private joke between herself and Perkins.^[21] In 2006, Perkins dedicated his novel Sex and the Single Zillionaire to Steel.

After years of near-constant writing, in 2003 Steel opened an art gallery in San Francisco, Steel Gallery, which showed contemporary work and exhibited the paintings and sculptures of emerging artists. The gallery subsequently closed in 2007.^[22] She continues to curate shows once or twice a year for the Andrea Schwartz Gallery in San Francisco.

In 2002, Steel was decorated by the French government as an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, for her contributions to world culture.

She has additionally received:

• Induction into the California Hall of Fame, December 2009.

• "Distinguished Service in Mental Health Award" (first time awarded to a non-physician) from New York Presbyterian Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and Columbia University Medical School and Cornell Medical College, May 2009.

• "Outstanding Achievement Award" for work with adolescents from Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco, May 2003.

• "Service to Youth Award" for improving the lives of mentally ill adolescents and children from the University of San Francisco Catholic Youth Organization and St. Mary's Medical Center, November 1999.

• "Outstanding Achievement Award" in Mental Health from the California Psychiatric Association

• "Distinguished Service Award" from the American Psychiatric Association

In 2006 Steel reached an agreement with Elizabeth Arden to launch a new perfume, Danielle by Danielle Steel.

Steel's longtime residence was in San Francisco,^[22] but she now spends most of her time at a second home in Paris.^[23] Despite her public image and varied pursuits, Steel is known to be shy^[22] and because of that and her desire to protect her children from the tabloids,^[1] she rarely grants interviews or public appearances.^[24] Her 55-room San Francisco home was built in 1913 as the mansion of sugar tycoon Adolph B. Spreckels.^[25]

Writing[link]

Steel's novels have been translated into 28 languages and can be found in 47 countries across the globe.^[13] The books, often described as "formulaic,"^[26] tend to involve the characters in a crisis of some sort which threatens their relationship. Many of her characters are considered over-the-top, making her books seem less realistic.^[27] The novels sometimes explore the world of the "rich and famous" ^[26] and frequently deal with serious life issues, like illness, death, loss, family crises, and relationships.

Despite a reputation among critics for writing "fluff", Steel often delves into the less savory aspects of human nature, including incest, suicide, divorce, war, and even the Holocaust.^[13] As time has progressed, Steel's writing has evolved. Her later heroines tend to be stronger and more authoritative, who, if they do not receive the level of respect and attention they desire from a man, move on to a new life.^[11] In recent years Steel has also been willing to take more risks with her plots. Ransom focuses more on suspense than romance, and follows three sets of seemingly unconnected characters as their lives begin to intersect.^[28] Toxic Bachelors departs from her usual style by telling the story through the eyes of the three title characters, men who are relationship phobic and ultimately discover their true loves.^[26]

Steel has been criticized for making her books overly redundant and detailed,^[29] explicitly telling the story to readers instead of showing it to them. This sometimes has the effect of making the readers feel like they are on the outside looking in rather than living the story.^[30]

To avoid comparisons to her previous novels, Steel does not write sequels.^[8] Although many of her earliest books were released with initial print runs of 1 million copies, by 2004 her publisher had decreased the number of books initially printed to 650,000 due to the decline in people buying books. However, her fan base is still extremely strong with Steel's books selling out atop charts worldwide.^[31]

Twenty-two of her books have been adapted for television,^[32] including two that have received Golden Globe nominations. One is Jewels, the story of the survival of a woman and her children in World War II Europe, and the family's eventual rebirth as one of the greatest jewelry houses in Europe.^[13] Columbia Pictures was the first movie studio to offer for one of her novels, purchasing the rights to The Ghost in 1998.^[32] Steel also reached an agreement with New Line Home Entertainment in 2005 to sell the film rights to 30 of her novels for DVDs.

Bibliography[link]

Novels[link]

• *Denotes New York Times Number 1 Hardcover Fiction Bestseller^[33]

Non-fiction[link]

• Love: Poems (1984)
• Having a Baby (1984)
• His Bright Light (1998)

Picture Books[link]

• The Happiest Hippo in the World (2009)

Children's books[link]

Max & Martha series[link]

• Martha's New Daddy (1989)
• Max and the Babysitter (1989)
• Martha's Best Friend (1989)
• Max's Daddy Goes to the Hospital (1989)
• Max's New Baby (1989)
• Martha's New School (1989)
• Max Runs Away (1990)
• Martha's New Puppy (1990)
• Max and Grandma and Grampa Winky (1991)
• Martha and Hilary and the Stranger (1991)

Freddie series[link]

• Freddie's Trip (1992)
• Freddie's First Night Away (1992)
• Freddie and the Doctor (1992)
• Freddie's Accident (1992)

Filmography[link]

1. The Promise (1979)
2. Now and Forever (1983)
3. Crossings (1986)
4. Kaleidoscope (1990)
5. Fine Things (1990)
6. Changes (1991)
7. Palomino (1991)
8. Daddy (1991)
9. Jewels (1992)
10. Secrets (1992)
11. Message from Nam (1993)
12. Star (1993) (TV)
13. Heartbeat (1993)
14. Family Album (1994)
15. A Perfect Stranger (1994)
16. Once in a Lifetime (1994)
17. Mixed Blessings (1995)
18. Zoya (1995)
19. Vanished (1995)
20. The Ring (1996)
21. Full Circle (1996)
22. Remembrance (1996)
23. No Greater Love (1996)
24. Safe Harbour (2007)
25. Hotel Vendome (2013) to be directed by Gary Fleder

See also[link]

Children's literature portal

• List of bestselling novels in the United States
• List of bestselling fiction authors

References[link]