Technology Review

whereverthere's

electronics ...there's Trans.tron

Thrust thousands of miles with astonishing speed, fromland, air, sea - and even beneath the sea - countless mis-siles of versatile and varying types shield the United Statesagainst attackers and provide devastating weaponsincaseof attack. Transitron's tiny semiconductors playa majorrole in the super-accurate guidance of these missiles. AtTransitron, over 4000 skilled employees work exclusivelyto develop super-reliable silicon and germanium semicon-ductors. In missiles and rockets, asin radar, computers,atomic subs, medicine, jets and thousands of other militaryand commercial applications - wherever there's elec-tronics, there's Transitron, leadingthe field in advancedsemiconductor reliability.

Where the Engineer Designs His O""n Career

Here's an industry that started big after the war surged ahead in every direction ... keepson growing today when others are tapering off and still has its biggest years ahead. Theelectric utilities business is basically an engineering business. Many of its top executives comefrom engineering ranks; from systems planning, design, operations, research, or sales; andwith backgrounds ranging from electronics and nucleonics to older branches of scientificlearning. If you want a career in ane-g.panding industry that is based on engineering look toour electric public utilities. We know you'll like working with them. We have been doing it formany years in supplying this great industry with Kerite quality insulated wire and cable.See your placement officer, or write us at 30 Church Street, New York 7. N. Y .

•

"!1' KERITE CABLE'" . ~ ~ KERITE -z:tfa::C 'htaNM ~e ~MeHae.-

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MARCH, 1960 1

2

tie", ~h,ihee"ih'1J"ItJ 1,.,,,,McGraw-Hill

CONTROL-SYSTEMS ENGINEERINGBy William W. Seifert, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Carl W. Steeg, Jr., Radio Corporation of

America. McGraw-Hill Electrical and Electronic Engineering Series.955 pages, $15.00

A presentation of the mathematical tools of basic importance in the field of Systems Engineering. Itshould be of wide interest to control engineers concerned with! systems studies, and as a text for graduatecourses in this area. This book presents a broad coverage of advanced theoretical techniques in a unifiedfashion, and from the point of view of thecontrol-systems engineer.

SERVOMECHANISM PRACTICE, New Second EditionBy William R. Ahrendt, University of Maryland; and C.J. Savant, Jr .. American Electronics, Inc.McGraw·

Hill Electrical and Electronic Engineering Series.566 pages. $12.50

This book covers all the important servo components and includes many additional items which have comeinto wider use since the first edition. It explains in detail the practical aspects of servomechanisms,describes the many ways in which the essential functions of servomechanism components can be accom-plished, discusses the problems associated with the operation of servos and their components, and outlinespractical design and manufacturing techniques to obtain optimum performance.

THEORY OF PLATESAND SHELLS, Second EditionBy S. Timoshenko; and S. Woinowsky·Krieger. Laval University.Engineering Societies Monographs. 580

pages, $15.00

This second edition has been revised extensively, and the principal additions include:(1) an article ondeflection of plates due to transverse shear, (2) an article on stress concentrations around a circular holein a bent plate, (3) a chapter on bending of plates resting on an elastic foundation, (4) a chapter onbending of anisotropic plates, and(5) a chapter reviewing certain special and approximate methods used inplate analysis.

REACTION KINETICS FOR CHEMICAL ENGINEERSBy Stanley M. Walas, University of Kansas.McGraw-Hill Series in Chemical Engineering.338 pages, $9.50

A text on applied kinetics for use at the senior or first year graduate level. It covers the subject from thestandpoint of the process designer, not from that of the physical chemist. Its aim is to present as conciselyand clearly as possible enough material to enable the reader to analyze kinetic data, interpret recent litera-

.: ture, and accomplish the process design of chemical reactors with some facility.

PRINCIPLES OF MODERN PHYSICS~,.'.

By Robert B. Leighton, California Institute of Technology.McGraw-Hill International Series in Pure and Ap-plied Physics. 795 pages, $12.50

Expository and analytical, rather than historical and discursive, this book concentrates first on broad fun-damental principles which underlie physicsas we know it, and then shows how these principles operateto yield the observed complex behavior of matter. The author treats special relativity from the four-vectorpoint of view, and deals with quantum mechanics by starting with fundamental postulates whose connec-tions with experimental facts are pointed out as they are introduced.

r---------------------------------------------------------------------------------To McGraw-Hili Book Co., Inc.

Dept. 01-03330 West 42nd StreetNew York 36, N. Y.

On approval, please send me the books checked below for examination.o My remittance of $.•...•.•.•.. is enclosed. (No delivery charge when remittance accompanies order).o Please send me an invoice for the books plus postage.

I reserve the right to return books for full credit. (Return address: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., Hightstown, NewJersey).

o Seifert and Steeg-CONTROL SYSTEMS ENGINEERING, 955 pages, $15.00o Ahrendt and Savant-SERVOMECHANISM PRACTICE. 2/e, 566 pages. $12.50o Timoshenko and Woinowsky·Krieger-THEORY OF PLATES AND SHELLS, 2/e, 580 pages, $15.00o Walas-REACTION KINETICS FOR CHEMICAl; ENGINEERS, 338 pages, $9.50o Leighton-PRINCIPLES OF MODERN PHYSICS, 795 pages, $12.50

TROI·03

~----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------_.THE TECHNOLOGY REvIEW

VoLume 62 Number 5

Technolog.y Review

Edited at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Reg. us, Pat. oa.

March, 1960

This Month!Feedback

Pupil's Re-creationOr Teacher's Recreation

FROM PHILIP FRAN.KLlN:

In the last few years, there has developedwidespread awareness of the importanceof an early study of mathematics in thetraining of engineers and physical scien-tists. This has caused several groups tore-evaluate the high school curriculum inmathematics, and to implement many oftheir ideas through institutes for teacherssuch as those of the National ScienceFoundation. An effort of this kind at theJunior High School or even the primarygrades level, the Madison Project, was de-scribed by Professor Robert B. Davis ina recent article in The Technology Re-view (Dec., 1959, pp. 28-30).

The objective of these efforts is laud-able - to improve and modernize theteaching of the traditionaL high schoolmathematics subjects. But some of the ap-parently demonstrated conclusions aboutlearning mathematics can easily be carriedtoo far, and it is this caution that thewriter would like to emphasize.

That the small number of "low·I.Q."students per teacher helped maintain in-terest was to be expected. And that, whenthe teachers felt the zeal of a new "educa-tional experiment," they imparted interestto the students is quite believable. How-ever, this last effect is hard to sustain overa period of years.

But that changes in language and nota-tion had much virtue seems doubtful. Anexample was the use of the relativelyvague words "general mathematics" and"condition" for the much more preciseterms "algebra" and "equation." Andcompare the Project's formulation:

If 3+0=5, what goes in the box?

with the traditional formulation:

Solve 3+x = 5.

The "new" notation is costlier to print,but is it new? It is strongly reminiscentof the formulations of Diophantos ofAI·exandria (c. 350A.D.). The full apprecia-tion by mathematicians of the notationax + b =c, with any of the letters posi-tive or negative, dates from the "Geom-etry" of Descartes in 1637. Present-dayengineering students are still a little in-credulous the first time they encounter

(Continued on page 19)

MARCH, 1960

THIS VACUUM TUBE was made(rom a kit of parts that is now beingevaluated in the schools. How it wasassembled is described in the article onpage 40.

The CoverPegasus posed in thecenter of the KresgeAuditorium, facing the organ, for TheReview's cover. Tbe sculpture is describedin the article on pages 21 and 22.

EDITOR: Volta Torrey: BUSINF3S MANAGEIl:

R. T. Jope,'28;CIRCULATION MANAGER: D. P.Severance/a8;mITORIAL ASSOCIATEl: J. J.Rowlands, Francis E. Wylie, JohnI. Mat-till; EDITORIAL STAFF: Ruth King, Diana deFilippi; BUSINESS STAFF: Madeline R. Mc-Cormick, Louise E. Ryan; PUBLISHER:

H. E. Lobdell,'17.

Tbe TeehnolOflf Review is published montbly fromNovember to July .inclusive on the 27tb day oftbe montb preceding the date of issue, by theAlumni Association of M.I.T.; Edward J. Hanley,'24, President: H. E. Lobdell,'17, Executive Vice-president: William W. Garth, Jr.,'36. William L.Taggart, Jr;l'27, Vice-presidents; Donald P. Sev-erance,'38, Secretary-Treasurer,

Copyrighted, 1960, by tbe Alumni Association ofxi.t.r.

Editorial and business offices are in Room 1·281,Massacbusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge39, Mass. The Review is published at HildrethPress. Inc., Emmett Street, Bristol, Conn.

An annual subscription in the U.S,is $4.00; inCanada and elsewbere, $4.50: a single coPY, 60cents, Tbree weeks must be allowed to effect acbange of address/ for which both the old &I1d thenew address should be given.

Entered as second-class matter December 23/ 1949.at the Post Office, at Bristol, Conn., IInner theAct of March 3, 1879. Accepted for mailing atspecial postage rates provided for in Section 538.P. L . ., R. Act of February 28, 1925.

Individuals Noteworthy 4

A new Advisory Council is named forthe School of Industrial Management.

I

The Trend of Affairs 17

M.LT. creates a Laboratory of Chemi-cal and Solid State Physics, and theAlumni nominate officers.

The Larger Learning 23

Huston Smith, Professor of Philosophy;urges emphasisin college on human aswell as intellectual virtues.

Engineering Education 27

Harold L. Hazen, '24, Dean of theM.I.T. Graduate School, describes newprofessional demands.

Why Do Good Men Fam 30

M. Bryce Leggett, '40, reviews andHenry B. Kane, '24, illustrates someundergraduate problems atM.LT.

When Yatt Write a Report 33

Robert R. Rathbone, Associate Profes-sor of English, recalls the principlesand gives some helpful pointers.

Solid-Fuel Rocket Chambers 34

A brief account of a fascinating ex-ample of engineering research.

Seeing Far Below the Sea 35

Harold E. Edgerton, '27, describes new,dynamic, data-producing cameras.

From Supersonic to Hypersonic 39

Wind tunnel velocities are greatly in-creased without spending millions.

Books 54

Reviews of three inexpensive worksof possible interest to Alumni.

Institute Yesteryears 60

Items that were news 25, 50, 75, 85, and99 years ago at M.I.T.

3

'Individuals Noteworthy

New Advisory Council

A OTHER LINK between thebusiness world and M.I.T. wasformed this winter when DeanHoward W. Johnson of the Schoolof Industrial Management an-nounced the formation of a newAdvisory Council under the chair-manship of Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.,'95, Honorary Chairman of theGeneral Motors Corporation andPresident of the Alfred P. SloanFoundation which established theschool.

"Our council members will servethe school," said Dean Johnson,"by providing advice and counselon its various study and researchprograms, and by acting as asounding board for new ideas."

Council members, who will servefor three years, are:

Albert Bradley, Director andFormer Chairman of the Board,General Motors Corporation, andChairman, Alfred P. Sloan Founda-tion, Inc.

Russell DeYoung,'40,President,Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.

Bradley Dewey,'09,Former Pres-ident, Dewey &: Almy ChemicalDivision, (W. R. Grace &: Co.)

Cecil H. Green, '23, HonoraryChairman of the Board, Geophysi-cal Service Inc.

Robert T. Haslam, '11, Consult-ant and Director, W. R. Grace&Co.

Wayne J. Holman, t-; '39,Chairman of the Board, ChicopeeManufacturing Corporation.

Theodore V. Houser, FormerChairman of the Board, Sears,Roebuck & Company;

GeorgeM. Humph~ey, Chairmanof the Board, National Steel Cor·poration.

Devereux C. Josephs,Chairmanof the Board, New York Life In-surance Company.

Frederick R. Kappel,President,American Telephone &: TelegraphCompany.

Semon E. Knudsen, '36, GeneralManager, Pontiac Motor Division,General Motors Corporation.

4

GeorgeJ. Leness, '26, Chairmanof the Executive Committee, Mer-rill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner andSmith, Inc.

William B. Murphy, President,Campbell Soup Company.

Alfred C. Neal, President, Com-mittee for Economic Development.

Robert C. Sprague, '23, Chair-man and Treasurer, Sprague Elec-tric Company.

John C. Virden, Chairman of theBoard and President, Eaton Manu-facturing Company.

Thomas J. Watson, t-; Presi-dent, IBM Corporation.

JamesE. Webb, Director, Kerr-McGee Oil Industries, Inc.

Arnold J.Zurcher, Vice-presidentand Executive Director, Alfred P.Sloan Foundation, Inc.

To Resume Teaching

ONE of the foremost authorities inthe communications-systems field,Wilbur B. Davenport, Jr., '43, willresume teaching next fall as pro-fessor of electrical engineering atM.I.T. after nine years on the staffof Lincoln Laboratory.

Wilbur B. Davenport, Jr.,'43

PAUL A. SAMUELSON, Professor ofEconomics at M.l.T., was elected FirstVice'president of the American Eco-nomic Association at its recent meet-ing in Washington. His textbook oneconomics is used in many schools.

Dr. Davenport was a teachingassistant in the Department ofElectrical Engineering from 1941to 1943. He then served for threeyears as a fire-control radar officerin the United States Navy. Aftermore years on the M.I.T. Faculty,he went to Lincoln, where he hasserved in the Communications andComponents Division and, since1958, as head of the InformationProcessing Division.

He is a consultant to the Direc-tor of Defense Research and Engi-neering, the National SecurityAgency and the U.S. Navy SpecialProjects Office. He was co-authorwith William L. Root, '43, of AnIntroduction to the Theory ofRandom Signals and Noisein1958, and is a fellow of the Insti-tute of Radio Engineers.

"Dr. Davenport is an unusualcombination of skillful teacher,keen research man, and "bold leaderof advanced engineering work,"says Jerome B. Wiesner, ActingHead of the Electrical EngineeringDepartment. "He will be able tocontribute very substantially to thework on engineering educationand on communication sciencesthat we have planned for the nextdecade."

(Continued on page 6)

THE TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

NO. Sl IN A SERIES

OUT OF THE LABORATORY

Forthcoming space exploration will require exotic fuels and new concepts in

energy conversion to keep men alive and equipment operating for long periods of time beyond the

earth's atmosphere. Advanced hydrogen systems recently developed by The Garrett Corporation

have solved this problem of providing the electrical, hydraulic and pneumatic power, plus cooling

and heating required abo'ard a satellite or space capsule during launching, outer space

flight and re-entry ... another contribution by Garrett to man's conquest of space .

• Outstanding opportunities forqualified engineers

THE cO.PO...... O.

~hResearch Manufacturing DivisionsLOS ANGELES 45. CALIFORNIA. PHOENIX, ARIZONA

OTHER DIVISIONS AND SUBSIDIARIES: AIRESEARCH INDUSTRIAL. AIRESEARCH AVIATION SERVICE. GARRETT SUPPLY. AIR CRUISERS

AIRSUPPLY.AERO ENGINEERING. GARRETT MANUfACTURING LIMITED. C. W. MARWEDEL • GARRETT INTERNATIONAL

MARCH, 1960 5

L:INCOLN

LABORATORY

invites inquiries froDl.persons

with superior qualifications.

SOLID STATE Physics, Chemistry, and Metallurg~

RADIO PHYSICS and ASTRONOMY

NEW RADAR TECHNIQUES

COMMUNICATIONS:

Techniques

Psychology

Theory

INFORMATION PROCESSING

SYSTEMS:

Space Surveillance

ICBM Detection and Tracking

Strategic Communications

Integrated Data Networks

SYSTEM ANAL VSIS

Research and Development

LINCOLN LABORATORY

MassaChusetts Institute of Technology

BOX 2B

LEXINGTON 73, MASSACHUSETTS

6

Individuals Noteworthy~Continued from page 4)

Warren J. Mead: 1883-1960

PROFESSOR EMERITUS of Ge-ology Warren Judson Mead diedon January 16 at his home in Bel-mont. Dr. Mead headed the M.I.T.Department of Geology from -1934until he retired in 1949.

Born in Plymouth, Wis., in1883, Dr. Mead was graduatedfrom the University of Wisconsinin 1906, where he received hismaster's in 1908 and his doctoratein 1926. He was a member of theWisconsin faculty from 1906 un-til 1934. He wrote numerous geo-logical papers and collaboratedwith C. K. Leith in producing thevolume entitled MetamorphicGeology (1915). His nonacademicwork included consulting for thePanama Canal Commission, theCorps of Engineers, the ColoradoRiver Board to determine the fea-sibility of Boulder Dam, the Alu-minum Company of America, andthe Reynolds Metal Company. Healso investigated iron and coal re-sources of South Manchuria.

Dr. Mead was a member of theNational Academy of Sciences anda fellow of the American Academyof Arts and Sciences and the Geo-logical Society of America.

He is survived by his wife.Bertha Taylor Mead, and threesons, Warren, of Waterloo, Iowa;Judson, of Bloomington, Ind.; andJeremiah, of Waban, Mass.

Gerald Putnam: 1902-1960

IN JANUARY Gerald Putnam, '23,Assistant Professor of EngineeringGraphics in the Department ofMechanical Engineering, died in aCambridge hospital.

Professor Putnam was born onNovember 27, 1902, in- Clinton,Mass. He worked with water powerengineering companies in Albanybefore joining the Institute Facultyin 1933, and held positions in theDepartments of Civil Engineering,Drawing and Graphics before join-ing the Mechanical EngineeringDepartment. He also served as lec-turer in mathematics at Tufts Uni-versity and Northeastern University.

He is survived by his wife,Dorothy Valentine Putnam.

(Continued on 1Jage12)

THE TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

Shaping another sun

7000 degrees ... an inferno approaching that ,of the sun's surfacehas been created by the scientists of Union Carbide. The energy comes fromthe intensely hot carbon arc. Through the use of mirrors, the heatis reflectedto form a single burning image of the electric arc at a convenient point.Called the arc-image furnace, it extends the limits of high-temperatureresearch on new materials for the space age.

For years, mammoth carbon and graphite electrodes have firedblazing electric furnaces to capture many of today's metals from their ores

and to produce the finest steels. But, in additionto extreme heat, the carbonarc produces a dazzling light that rivals the sun. In motion picture projectors,

its brilliant beam floods panoramic movie screens with every vivid detailfrom a film no larger than a postage stamp.

The carbon arc is only one of many useful things made fromthe basic element, carbon. The people of Union Carbidewill carry on their

research to develop even better ways for carbon to serve everyone.

MARCH, 1960

... a hand in things to come

Learn about the exciting workgoing on now in carbons, chem-icols.gases, metals, plastics, andnuclear energy, Writefor"Prod-ucts and Processes" Booklet I,Union Carbide Corporation, 30E.42ndSt.,New York17,N. Y.In Canada, Union CarbideCanada Limited, Toronto.

... a handin things tooorrre

7

(Leftj The huge riverside crane atCombustion's Chattanooga Divisioneasily lifts this 92-ton stainless steelreactor vessel - the most complexreactor vessel built to date - into abarge for shipment to the EnricoFermi Power Station, Lagoona Beach,Michigan.(Right) Stainleu steel sodium heatexchanger consisting of a series oftubes within tubes, encased In a pres-sure vessel •

What C-E •IS doing to advanceThe strange and wondrous world of the atom has been exam-ined and surveyed by C-E scientists and engineers since1946. The object-to put the controlled energy of the atomto productive use for the generation of power. The result-a wealth of knowledge and experience in the application,design and manufacture of nuclear power equipment. Backedby specially designed laboratories and manufacturing facili-ties, this knowledge and experience-greatly augmented andenriched by the acquisition of the General Nuclear Engi-neering Corporation early last year-has enabled C-E toundertake many kinds of nuclear work.

Notable C-E and General Nuclear projects are outlinedon the opposite page. Virtually all of them arecurrent, andmany have a significant relationship to the vital task ofmaking nuclear power competitive with conventional power.Collectively, these projects will contribute importantly tothe Company's objective of achieving the same positionof leadership in the atomic world of tomorrow which ithas long since achieved' in present-day methods of powergeneration.

Portiol view of loboratory of General Nuclear Engineering Corporation atDunedin, Florida, showing equipment used for the study of a high-pressure,high-temperature gas coolant system.

Portion of a laboratory at C-E's Nuclear Division, Windsor,Connecticut, showing gas analysis equipment used fordetecting the presence of small quantities of goses in reac-tor materials.

8 THE TECHNOLOGY REVIEW