Stainless steel surface coatings has also influenced its use in commercial kitchens and food processing plants. Stainless steels do not suffer uniform corrosion, like carbon steel, when exposed to wet environments. Unprotected carbon steel rusts readily when exposed to the combination of air and moisture. The resulting iron oxide surface layer (the rust) is porous and fragile. Since iron oxide occupies a larger volume than the original steel this layer expands and tends to flake and fall away exposing the underlying steel to further attack. In comparison, stainless steels contain sufficient chromium to undergo passivation, spontaneously forming a microscopically thin inert surface
The Stainless Steel Rat outfoxed by the mysterious "Special Corps" — a crime-fighting organisation staffed with former criminals — and recruited by them in order to fight crime. Harrison used the story, with minor modifications, as the introduction to the series' first full-length novel, also called "The Stainless Steel Rat". Like other characters created by Harrison, the Rat is a speaker of Esperanto and advocates atheism. There are 13 works in the Stainless Steel Rat series. Based on information in "The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World" it is possible to work out when the timeline is set: James is sent 32,598 years into