Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
ALLARD
THE DEVELOPMENT OF
THE RADIO PROXIMITY FUZE
Observers have contended that, in the 19th cen- the authority to spend money and to act. There was a
tury, American technology gradually lost its associa- feeling that time was the important thing.,,3
tion with the tradition of the craftsman -- or with the An additional factor explaining the success of Sec-
Yankee inventor who operated intuitively at his tion T was the breadth and unity of its responsibility,
workbench -- and increasingly became grafted onto which can also be contrasted with DoD patterns that
the field of science. At the same time, the sharp dis- have evolved since 1945. Instead of sharing leader-
tinction between pure and applied science that existed ship in the enormous effort to develop the fuze with
in some societies tended to be blurred in the Ameri- many other agencies or groups, the Applied Physics
can experience. For example, such an outstanding Laboratory in World War II oversaw a spectrum of
theoretical investigator as Albert Michelson suffered activity ranging from basic research to pilot produc-
no personal crisis when, during his service as a re- tion to testing and quality control. Its representatives
serve naval officer in World War I, he applied his tal- had a close relationship with the thousands of sup-
ents to the improvement of optical range finders. pliers and manufacturers involved in the fuze's pro-
Also, for a period of several months in the Second duction. In that complex interaction with industry, as
World War, Albert Einstein was a consultant to the was true within his own staff, Tuve took pains to en-
Navy's Bureau of Ordnance, offering advice on the sure that information, ideas, and initiatives flowed in
development of more effective explosive charges for more than one direction. Section T personnel also
our underwater weapons. operated in the war zones with the ultimate military
Both of these themes obviously apply to the story consumer of their product and hence played a role in
of the proximity fuze. That advanced engineering the effective introduction of the proximity fuze into
project was undertaken within the finest tradition of combat.
professional science. And, as is implied by the name A key element in the organizational success of Sec-
"Applied Physics Laboratory," distinguished inves- tion T was the highly productive association that was
tigators in the basic physical sciences had no hesita- developed with its sponsors in the Navy's Bureau of
tion in applying their theoretical knowledge and sci- Ordnance and later with the Army's Ordnance De-
entific techniques in the solution of a problem that partment. There is a great deal of lore and some his-
was of enormous practical importance. They did so, tory (part of which may fall into Henry Ford's
as Dr. Merle Tuve (first director of APL) once ob- "bunk" category) regarding the potential friction bel.
served, because there was no sense in undertaking ad- tween science and industry and military authorities,
ditional pure research in the late 1930' s that would arising from their sometimes differing outlooks and
only be inherited by Nazi Germany.l interests. I am reminded of a stormy time in the
There are many aspects in the organization and di- 1880' s when the Navy was attempting to procure
rection of the proximity fuze's development that are high-grade plates and structural shapes for its new
reminiscent of other chapters in the history of science fleet from the infant American steel industry. One
and technology. About five years ago, Booz-Allen & steel manufacturer, who claimed to be suffering a
Hamilton completed an excellent study of naval ruinous rejection rate of inferior materials, summar-
research and development that identified some of the ized the attitude of many industrialists toward the
formidable problems that have come upon us since Navy by referring to that service's "finical criticism
1945. The report referred to the "dominant trend" and perfunctory captiousness.,,4
of shifting authority to senior echelons in the Depart- But such tension was never a significant factor in
ment of Defense (DoD) and away from the individu- the proximity fuze story. Ralph Baldwin points out 5
als actually undertaking the work. The result of that that the initiation of the antiaircraft radio fuze
shift, according to the people interviewed by Booz- resulted from a military requirement enunciated by
Allen, has been a "proliferation of reviewing author- Captain Gilbert C. Hoover at a meeting with the Na-
ities and staffs which impeded progress, stifled initia- tional Defense Research Council in August 1940. In
tive, diffused responsibility, and diluted technical taking this position, Captain Hoover expressed the
and management resources.,,2 Contrast that situa- longstanding realization by Captain (later Admiral)
tion with the Section T program under Tuve's direc- William H. P. Blandy and many other naval officers
tion. As Dr. Wilbur H. Goss (formerly APL assistant of the essential need of naval forces for such a device.
director, technical evaluation) said a few years ago, A little more than a year later, after considerable pro-
"During the war, the people who really were running gress was made on the new fuze, Dr. Tuve asked for
the proximity fuze effort in a technical sense also had -- in fact, demanded -- even closer association with