steel and nonferrous metals are now often made with aetfsin essential parts of plastics-the handwheel on valves and light bomber turrets, for example. The binders for file papers and bayonets for training purposes have been made entirely of plastics. Ten years of normal progress in plywood have been crowded into the last three; plywood flows to a heavier and broader market than do plastics; for example, it is made into complete houses, boats, and bomber planes. Methods have also changed, for now finished articles w e made from the plies and adhesive resins direct without first forming a board Curved objects such as plane wing tips and elevator’ assemblies are put into a strong rubber bag which is then placed in a metal pressure chamber with one small opening a t a neutral point in the bag, passing through the chamber wall to atmosphere. When pressure is applied to the chamber, the air is expelled from the inside of the rubber bag and an even pressure is exerted all over the object. Magnesium was a production problem as complicated as rubber, but in two and one-half years the 1939 production of 3,980,000 pounds grew to 500,000,000 pounds of this metal, which is stronger than aluminum and 35744 lighter. The history of magnesium production, however, has not been entirely happy; the oldest process has now proved to be the cheapest and the best. Methods of assembly of large objects such as bomber planes, cargo boab, and blast furnaces were radicalIy changed. Perhaps as much as onequarter of the whole has been completed in four M e r e n t places, moved to the assembly line or the ways, and then put together and finished. A steel company, forced to replace a blast furnace, built the new furnace near by; when it was completed, the old one was shut down and demolished, the new one moved into the same place, and the connections to the auxiliary equipment were then completed. Ninety-six days of full production by the old furnace were saved by this carefully planned engineering. The main electrical wiring for a large plane was done by painting the wiring diagram on a long table; the Wires were placed in proper position on pegs and bound together for strength, and the bundle waa given protective coatings and a cover. It could then be placed quickly in the body of the plane as a rugged unit. Packard ‘decided to redraw the two thousand leftrhanded British designs of the Rolls-Royce Company; this was completed without impairing top performance of the wartime tested-in-line Merlin engine. Surgical instruments were often used to remove foreign matter from complicated oil ducts. Wind tunnels to prove the fasbchanging types of planes grew to 700 feet in length, and wind velocities of 600 miles per hour were created by a 40,000 horsepower motor; an additional 3600-horsepower motor and refrigerating compressor lowered the air temperature to -67” R,although the larger part of the temperature (Continued on page 94)
joins this writer in a feeling of grateful relief that the war is over. Scientific and practical efforts have won a war and established peace for the second time in one generation. Even more, our gross scientific assets have shortened the duration of tragic years, reduced the cost in lives, and alleviated the huge financial burden. Those who have seen the waste of war may be slow to believe this. The strength of Japan was unbelievably overrated, but the waste could have been greater. To understand our postwar opportunities we must look a t the results of technical progress during the last three and a half years. There are two aspects of interest to every scientist or layman: We want to know first about new methods used and about the new products made. A more difficult phasewhat should be done with the new plants and facilities available-will be discussed in this column next month. Arming for war was undertaken by commerce and industry. Administrative judgment came from the Commander-in-Chief and the War Department. How much our war needs expanded our productive capacity can only be estimated, since the record is not definite or accurate. The last year unaffected by the war was 1939, and in 1943 the “gross national product” had risen 175% over 1939 to 155 billion dollars; 47 to 49% of this amount was spent directly for war activities. The only hope in this record is that these successful developments can be preserved and devoted to help expand and support a better economy. But most of the enlargement and advances made were in materials needed directly for war. Civilian progress was not only stopped but deliberately set back (for example, the ordered shortening of the tails on men’s shirts). The war accelerated the rate a t which improvements were finished ; but since almost all were military, these developments must be carefully screened to find those helpful in civil life. Technical and practical improvements in methods were directed more to saving time than to saving labor, more to improving accuracy and quality. In this way wastefulness of time and material was cut. Production was increased but waste decreased. This type of process improvement always can be used a t full face value. The lrtst three years have seen the birth of many new products. Many of them are better known to the readers of this article than to the writer, but several should be mentioned briefly as a measure of the rate of scientific advancement. In 1942 a few scientists had imperfect knowledge of the processes for synthetic rubber, but synthetic rubber was in tires and a t the front in 1944 backed up by an annual production of over 950,OOO tons. Equally amaaing is the vast scale of production of 100-octane gasoline. Plastics developed so rapidly that the results are difficult to describe. It should be noted that recent uses have frequently replaced steel, a field almost untouched by plastics formerly. Finished products of VERYONE
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drop was obtained by changing static. pressure into velocity, which expands the air and lowers its temperature. Liquid carbon dioxide is used as a source of energy in planes to operate auxiliaries when the main power source has been damaged; about 30,050 foot-pounds of energy are available per pound of gas. Two newcomers have appeared in the inorganic list, sulfamic acid and ammonium sulfamate. Ethyl alcohol is produced by fermenting the wood sugars in waste sulfite liquors, and glycerol has been produced by fermentation and also synthetically from a cracked gasoline fraction. Tricalcium phosphate, substantially citrate soluble, is now made on a large scale by a one-step blast furnace process using a catalyst, even though the temperature is about 1600’ C. Ethyl mercaptan injected in the ventilating air to mines warns miners more promptly than any sound alarm yet used. A new “ballast” in fluorescent lighting fixtures saved 23,750 pounds of copper, 81,000 pounds of steel, 325 pounds of pluminum, and 303 kilowatt-hours in the lighting system of one airplane plant. The iron penny was unsuccessful, but the Administration permitted several million pounds of mint silver to be leased for use in heavy-amperage bus bars, on the condition that it should all be returned. By better hardening and heat-tempering methods, the cement industry in 1944 saved 5860 tons of steel grinding slugs per year. The dingy foundry also deserves recognition. Good ship propellers have been cast in permanent cement, not sand cores, and wooden core boxes are now protected from sand abrasion with a sprayed metal coating. Some of the most important munitions were made of “N.E.” ’steels, in which the alloying elements were reduced to meet the national emergency. Copper tube ends have been sealed in less than one second by revolving the tube at high speed against a steel die; friction heat anneals the copper, melts and centrifugally casts the end closed. The degree of fineness of metal powders, once determined by the amount which settled in three to seven hours in glycerol, is now determined in a few minutes; a beam of light is passed through an air-borne suspension while the current is measured from an electric eye energized by the light pickup passing through the metal powder suspension. A new x-ray was produced for the first time from the 100,000,000-volt discharge created by electron acceleration. Blood plasma, Freon insecticide bombs, fresh water from sea water plants, maps mounted on thin steel sheets which hold small magnet markers without marring the map surface, 108,000-kilowatt hydroelectric generators-all are typical of new processes and products now available. Statistical analysis is widely used in sampling materials which are produced by thd million, and also to interpret the results of inspections and the control of rejections. A new professional society of men devoting their talents to this type of work may become permanent. Let us not forget, however, that the last three years have not shown a net gain on balance. The entropy of the United States has decreased a t a rapid increment rate. We have exhausted our best iron ores, Michigan copper is nearer a memory, petroleum reserves have been lowered, and our forest supplies are most seriously depleted. Basic costs are a t a much higher level. Next month’s article will deal with a wise and logical program for disposing of these facilities.
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