INSTRUMENTATION by Ralph H. Müller
Household Appliances Need Improved Controls Rather Than Chromium and Fluorescent Lights TRYING to keep up with the terrific I Npace of instrumental developments, we are constantly impressed with the excellence of design and the inspired use of new and improved materials and techniques. In a highly competitive field, only the best will do and, by and large, inferior instruments and those who try to peddle them soon fall by the wayside. Some branches of our great American industry, whose products affect the general public far more directly seem to be years behind the instrument industry in this respect. Perhaps some of our readers can recall the exact quotation from Carlyle; it has eluded our search for years. In effect he said—"in all times and ages there have always been people eager to make something cheaper and poorer and invariably they have prospered because there was always enough demand for their inferior wares by the undiscriminating segment of the public." American industry has given ample evidence that most things can be made at astonishingly low prices without any sacrifice in quality. This has been the consequence of better machinery, careful analytical control of materials, automation, and advanced instrumentation. This is just another statement of the American dream and is the principal reason why America is envied and admired by at least the civilized portion of the whole world. Despite this, there are small segments of industry which are not satisfied with the enormous savings of automatic techniques but attempt to cut corners on materials. This is flagrantly evident in some food processing. For years we have insisted that American cuisine will soon be the best in the world for the simple reason that we have almost every conceivable material to work with, production and processing means, and distribution and sales facilities exceeding most other nations put together. When we boasted in this vein recently in Europe our remarks were greeted with a laugh and a shrug. "But of course—vou have
everything to work with, you have the money and are willing to spend it. Besides, our very best chefs, after long training and 'postgraduate' experience in Geneva, Eome, Paris, Amsterdam, or London eventually head for their real goal, New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. Not only do they command fabulous salaries but they are content in the knowledge that discriminating people will flock to their tables. Voila!—we agree." Not only can we maintain the boast, but the foreign experts agree with us. On the other hand, when we leave the best and come down to average fare including bread, cheese, sausage, and other simple items—most European peasants fare far better than we. Their product does not include a vitamin assay, emulsifiers, extenders, plastic packaging, and colorful deep-freeze display. It may not even be strictly sanitary, according to our standards. It has one simple virtue—it's palatable. When we read about peasants subsisting largely on bread, cheese, fruit, and a glass of watered wine we are inclined, in the charitable American way, to urge foreign aid and start dropping CARE packages in their midst. They don't need aid because these simple staples are nourishing and palatable. Recently we synthesized an Italian delicacy. It called for three kinds of cheese, pasta, and exotic sauce. Three hours of attentive toil brought us to the final stage. A paper thin layer of cheese was placed on top ready to be melted to incipient browning in the oven. For lack of the completely authentic cheese we had to use a national brand of process cheese of the same type. The plastic package was not equipped with a detonating cap, nor with the red release-tape common to all cigarette packages. We keep shears handy for the opening ceremonies. The oven is thermostatically controlled and we have even calibrated it (nonlinear function of the temperature dial indications). At the exact time, the prod-
uct was removed and covered with the sauce. What we really achieved was some tricky cross linking and general polymerization which produced an inedible elastomer. This was not a trial run—we had done it a dozen times with authentic ingredients. A palatable and delicious residue was retrieved from the product by the simple expedient of stripping off the elastomer—no more difficult than changing a tire! We are fully aware of the difference between a process cheese and the aged authentic product, and the natural price differential to be expected. The question is one of labeling and product identification. When a package states— Alozzarella, Muenster, Provolone, or Swiss, and other modifying statements or restrictions are lacking, one may assume that there is some vestigial resemblance to the original. We have no doubt that this product was fabricated and packaged with impressive equipment, electronic controls, and other de\"ices dear to our heart. That it is unpalatable, indigestible, and bears little resemblance to the alleged type makes any price advantage doubtful. There are some food products which have changed so radically over the years that new names have been invented in an honest effort to state the essential difference. This has given us countless "spreads"—some of them tasty and excellent. Others fill an important stop gap during the second hour of a cocktail party when no one is in a particularly discriminating mood. We have heard of a new and small outfit, in Southern California which has made the astounding discovery that peanut butter is compounded of nothing more than ground, freshly roasted peanuts, salt, and creamery butter. We knew this fifty years ago, but gave up its consumption when the colloid chemists took over. Some of the cheaper examples could be attractively and appropriately packaged in a grease gun. In all fairness, one cannot blame the manufacturers alone, because Carlyle's dictum provides a consuming public, VOL 33, NO. 3, MARCH 1961
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DATA S E R I E S
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INSTRUMENTATION
Evaluating Spectrophotometer Performance
PHOTOMETRIC ACCURACY and REPRODUCIBILITY: The precision to which the instrument measures the absorbance of a sample (accuracy) and repeats this measurement (reproducibility).
Cary Model 14 records spectra accurate and reproducible to . 0 0 2 at I.O absorbance unit, to . 0 0 5 at 2 . 0 High photometric accuracy and reproducibility are essential to provide reliable data for correctly interpreting scientific studies. These features also are of prime importance in control analyses where product quality or important production decisions are based on analytical results. The high photometric accuracy of the Cary Model 14 is illustrated by the above spectra of two Corning #3307 filters, 1.2 mm thick, which were measured separately and in combination. The individual absorbance values of filter #1 plus filter #2 were compared with the observed absorbance value of the combination. As shown on the record, the Model 14 measured the combined absorbance of the filters to within .002 absorbance, equivalent to .01% at 2% transmittance. With the superior performance of the Model 14, along with proper sample handling technique, an analytical accuracy of .2% may be obtained on concentration determinations. The excellent photometric reproducibility of the Cary Model 14 is illustrated by the curve for the filter combination which is actually three superimposed records. Photometric accuracy and reproducibility are just two of several important criteria on which spectrophotometer performance should be based. Others include : Resolution ; wavelength accuracy and reproducibility ; stray light. Because the Cary Model 14 excels in each of these performance criteria, it is regarded as the finest instrument of its kind. A descriptive brochure is yours for the asking. Write for data file A23-31.
Cary
®
INSTRUMENTS
APPLIED PHYSICS CORPORATION
2724- South Peck Road Monrovia, California Circle No. 110 on Readers' Service Card
not only lacking in discrimination, but consistent!}' willing to accept progressively poorer quality, taste, and palatability. Curiously enough, our people are extremely conscious of cleanliness, the danger of harmful adulterants, and other factors affecting public health. In this respect, and combined with the constant vigilance of municipal, state, and federal agencies, we are less likely to be poisoned than any ten nations on earth. To get back to our original statement and boast, our food stuffs, our food industry, our kitchen, and general domestic appliances are the envy of the world. Some Europeans find our supermarkets more fascinating than the cathedral at Chartres. What we lack perhaps, is not discrimination and good judgment but time. Our manufacturers know this and are not taking unfair advantage of it—but they recognize our desires. If a hamburger can be grilled by radar in 90 seconds, garnished with a few canned vegetables, and served on a plastic compart.mented plate in front of the television screen, that really saves time. It has the further advantage that the program presents no invidious comparisons. Instrument-wise we are greatly impressed by the newer domestic appliances. We are still looking for less chromium and fluorescent lighting and some more precision in heating equipment. Automatic timing in electric or gas ovens is extraordinarily precise, especially on controlled frequency lines but it is timing an oven, the temperature of which may be 20% in error. Can we come up with autotransformer (Variac, Varitran, etc.) control of electric ovens? Does anyone believe that the calibrated valve on a gas oven is sufficient to designate oven temperature? Pyrometric control in the food industry is old stuff—why not in domestic equipment? We cannot agree that cost is a prohibitive factor, for every well instrumented and controlled ndustrial installation there are several million domestic units and on a mass production basis some really exotic improvements could be made—and with profit. Our favorite book-plate inscription is—"Blessings be upon Cadmus, the Phonoecian, or whoever invented the alphabet." To this we would also pray for blessings upon the inventor of the cookstove. We are in the enviable position of being able to improve upon it indefinitely and also what is put on it. To the extent that we can consume what is cooked on it in greater tranquility and pleasure, we may be in a better mood to study the more important mvsteries of Nature.
