OCTOBER 10,1938
NEWS EDITION
527
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The Westinghouse Time Capsule A T THE precise moment of the 1938 T\. autumnal equinox A. W. Robertson, chairman of the board of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co., and Grover Whalen, president of the New York World's Fair 1939, guided the West inghouse Time Capsule into the crypt that had been prepared for it, where it is hoped it will remain for 5000 years. Thus culminated a project developed by G. Edward Pendray, assistant to the president of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Co., and a Time Cap sule Committee to put into an 800-pound metal envelope records faithfully report ing the "cross section of our time." Some day our descendants may find this record of our civilization, now 50 feet below the surface. Modern science has done its best to guarantee that the records contained therein will be intact and decipherable. The capsule is made of Cupaloy (copper, 99.4; chromium, 0.5; silver, 0.1). Cop per was chosen as the most suitable metal because the best archeological records we have are the copper tools of the eatly civilization. The alloy has the hardness of mild steel and is expected to act as an anode for other metals in the surrounding earth. In this manner, during the 5000 years, it might build itself an overcoat of iron. Made of seven segments, screwed together with the joints sealed with as phalt and peened out, the capsule is tor pedo shaped, 7.5 feet long and 8.375 inches in diameter. The inner crypt 6 feet 9 inches long by 6.5 inches in diameter, is lined with an envelope of Pyrex glass set in a water-repellent, petroleum-base wax and is filled with nitrogen. The problem of what t o put into such a capsule to give the archeologist of the fu ture a proper conception of our times was the most difficult task. In the capsule were placed articles of common use which contribute to our convenience, comfort, health, and safety. These vary from an alarm clock and a can opener t o eyeglasses,
a safety pin» and a wrist watch. Then there are those items which contribute to our pleasure and the education of children. Others pertain to the grooming and vanity of women, while others are of a similar sort pertaining to the personal habits of men. Games are represented and the materials of our day include fabrics, metals and their alloys, and nonmetallic materials and sub stances. Here we find synthetic rubber, representatives of the resins, Carborun dum. The miscellaneous items include money of the United States from a $1.00 bill down, electrical items, selected seeds sealed in glass tubes, books reduced to microfilm, samples of type, and special texts written on permanent paper in nonfading ink. The news reel, which would run about 15 minutes, contains a potpourri of eleven items characteristic of our activi ties, including sports. There is also a scenario of microfilm comprising 305 dif ferent items. Following the introduction there is a section of aids to translation, so our descendants may be able to read and understand this record. There are ar ticles on where we live and work, our arts, our entertainment, a description as to how information is disseminated among us, a book of general information about us, a series on our religions and philosophies, and another on our education and educa tional systems. Then there is something on our sciences and technics, our earth, its features and people, our medicine, public health, dentistry, and pharmacy, a con siderable number of items on our indus tries, and a bit on the New York World's Fair of 1939, and the section concludes with a list of the objects in the capsule and of the men who made it. The last section of this microfilm shows how we appear, talk, and act, with some scenes of our day, including directions how to build a pro jecting machine in which to use the reel and read the film. It is regrettable that space here does not permit a complete list of items in the cap
sule, for the manner in which this has been worked out is indeed intriguing. Two books were placed in the capsule, one the Bible on special rag stock, and the other a special edition of the "Time Capsule" published by Westinghouse for distribu tion to libraries of the world. This edi tion has special permanent ink and rag paper and contains directions for finding the capsule, together with a key to the English language. It is hoped that such a wide distribution of copies to libraries will enable it to endure and guide some future archeologist to unearth the capsule. The microfilm of books, newspapers, magazines, etc., contains more than 10,000,000 words and 1000 pictures. The film is cellulose acetate, believed to have the best chance of survival of any available film. The United States Coast and Geo detic Survey determined the exact latitude and longitude of the crypt to the third decimal point in seconds. The following records are included on the microfilm: the table of the elements, ex cerpts from the Encyclopaedia Britannica on chemistry and applied chemistry, the address of Edward K. Weidlein when President of
the
AMERICAN CHEMICAL
SOCIETY on "A World of Change," and "Industrial Chemistry" by William T. Read. The extremes in music represented on the film are perhaps "Finlandia" by Jean Sibelius and "Flat-Foot Floogee." The committee was confronted with three main problems: how to build a vessel capable of lasting 5000 years, how to leave word of its whereabouts for his torians of the future, and the selection ancl preservation of the contents. In addi tion there were many subsidiary problems, such as the selection of the site and pro tection of the deposit against vandalism· In solving these problems the Time Cap sule Committee has had the assistance of some of the country's foremost archeologiste, metallurgists, engineers, and others.
