MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY BULLETIN PRESIDENT'S REPORT ISSUE I ~-- __ - VOLUME 81 NUMBER 1 OCTOBER, 1945 Published by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts Entered July 3, 1933, at the Post Office, Boston, Massachusetts, as second-class matter under Act of Congress of August 24, 1912z. Published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge Station, Boston, Massachusetts, in February, June, August, and October. Issues of the BULLETIN include the reports of the President and of the Treasurer, the General Catalogue, the Undergraduate Course Schedules, and the Directory of Officers and Students. MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY BULLETIN President's Report Issue I944-1945 VOLUME 81 NUMBER I OCTOBER, 1945 PUBLISHED BY THE INSTITUTE, CAMBRIDGE THE CORPORATION 1945-1946 President KARL T. COMPTON Secretary Treasurer WALTER HUMPHREYS HORACE S. FORD LIFE MEMBERS W. CAMERON FORBES JOHN R. MACOMBER WILLIS R. WHITNEY EDWIN S. WEBSTER ALFRED L. LooMIs* GORDON S. RENTSCHLER PIERRE S. DU PONT HARLOW SHAPLEY VANNEVAR BUSH* HARRY J. CARLSON ALFRED P. SLOAN, JR. WILLIAM EMERSON GERARD SWOPE LAMMOT DU PONT RALPH E. FLANDERS FRANKLIN W. HOBBS FRANK B. JEWETT JAMES M. BARKER JOSEPH W. POWELL REDFIELD PROCTOR THOMAS C. DESMOND JOHN E. ALDRED GODFREY L. CABOT J. WILLARD HAYDEN WALTER HUMPHREYS WILLIAM C. POTTER WILLIAM S. NEWELL VICTOR M. CUTTER BRADLEY DEWEY Lou's S. CATES ALBERT H. WIGGIN HENRY E. WORCESTER MARSHALL B. DALTON FRANCIS J. CHESTERMAN SPECIAL TERM MEMBERS Term Expires January, 1946 Term Expires January, 1947 Term Expires January,1948 CHARLES E. SPENCER, JR. WILLARD H. Dow PHILLIPS KETCHUM Term Expires January, 1949 Term Expires January, Q950 GEORGE A. SLOAN HARRY C. WIESS PRESIDENT OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION A. WARREN NORTON ALUMNI TERM MEMBERS Term expires June, 1946 Term expires June, 1947 EDWARD P. BROOKS RICHARD L. BOWDITCH GEORGE J. MEAD B. EDWIN HUTCHINSON ROBERT E. WILSON DUNCAN R. LINSLEY Term expires June, g948 Term expires June, Z949 FRANCIs A. BARRETT ELLIS W. BREWSTER WALTER J. BEADLE HAROLD B. HARVEY DONALD F. CARPENTER WILLIAM J. MIXTER Term expires June, 195o EDWARD S. FARROW HORACE W. McCURDY RAYMOND STEVENS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE COMMONWEALTH His EXCELLENCY, MAURICE J. TOBIN, Governor HON. FRED T. FIELD, Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court JULIUS E. WARREN, Commissioner of Education *On leave of absence. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE CORPORATION . ... 2 REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT: THE WAR RECORD OF THE INSTITUTE •. 5 FORMER STUDENTS IN THE ARMED SERVICES • 7 WAR SERVICE BY THE STAFF . S7 WAR CONTRACTS ... S 7 WAR TRAINING PROGRAMS . 8 WAR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 9 Radar and the Radiation Laboratory 9 The Draper Computing Gun Sight 17 The Servomechanisms Laboratory x8 The Cyclotron . 19 The High-Voltage Laboratory 19 Fuel Research 20 The Laboratory for Insulation Research 20 Liquid Oxygen 21 The C. W. S. Development Laboratory 21 The Wind Tunnel 22 The Center of Analysis 22 Miscellaneous . 22 The Atomic Bomb . 23 M. I. T. AS AN INSTITUTIONAL PROVING GROUND 24 COST TO M. I. T. OF WAR PROGRAM *25 Financial Losses . 27 Financial Gains . .. 29 THE FIVE-YEAR EPOCH Now ENDING S 30 THE ERA AHEAD .. .. 31 CONCLUSION. ... S 34 ADDENDUM . .. ... 35 Finances ..... 35 Enrollment ... S 37 Student Aid . 37 Personnel . .. 38 REPORTS OF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS Dean of Students .. Dean of the Graduate School ... Registrar ......... ·· ^-UI·.~·NIUYUI~YnUUrWUIW~·-rxrr-~-U11· 4 MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PAGE Director of Admissions 79 Director of Libraries 80 Librarian 81 Director of Division of Industrial CoSperation 87 Adviser to Foreign Students 88 Placement Officer 90 Personnel Officer 91 Medical Director 92 REPORTS OF THE HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS AND COURSES SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING Aeronautical Engineering 95 Building Engineering and Construction 102 Business and Engineering Administration 104 Chemical Engineering 105 Civil and Sanitary Engineering 107 Electrical Engineering Graphics S15 Mechanical Engineering 115 Metallurgy 123 Meteorology 124 Military Science and Tactics 12•6 Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering 127 SCHOOL OF SCIENCE Biology . 129 Chemistry . 131 Food Technology 133 Geology. I34 Mathematics 134 Physics 135 SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND PL ANINING . .. 38 DIVISION OF HUMANITIES Economics and Social Science 141 English and History 142 General Studies 143 Modern Languages . 144 REPORT OF THE TREASURER . 146 PUBLICATIONS OF THE STAFF 237 Index of Authors 253 THESES PRESENTED FOR DOCTORS' DEGREES 251 Index of Authors 255 The War Record of the Institute THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT To THE MEMBERS OF THE CORPORATION: TWO months ago, final and complete victory crowned four years of desperate struggle, into which every element and section of our nation poured its life, its labor, and its resources. Our American way of life is the ever developing product of the effort and sacrifice of many generations, spanning many countries and centuries, to achieve personal, political, and religious freedom; to build a civilization in which opportunity, security, and a high standard of living shall be available to all under the ethical principles of Christ. We were all too slow in waking up to the threats against these ideals which gathered, like storm clouds, in the 1930's around the Fascists, the Nazis, and the war lords of Japan. After the storm broke, it was only the most co6perative determination to preserve these ideals which saved the world from domination by ambitious powers bent on an exploitation and self-aggrandizement which would have plunged the world back into the dark ages. In this co6perative, all-out effort, our educational institu- tions have played a notable role. Whereas the Army and Navy constitute our first line of national defense, I venture the state- ment that our educational institutions rank with our manufac- turing industry and transportation system as the principal supporting lines of military power in time of war and of reserve strength in time of peace. In peace, they educate men for every aspect of our national economy in which higher educa- tion is important. In war, they are ready-made centers for housing and training officer and specialized personnel; their faculties are the most readily available source of experts for 6 MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY the numerous emergency boards, committees, and expanded technical services; their laboratories and staffs become pro- ductive centers for research and development on new instru- mentalities of offensive and defensive warfare. Of this latter aspect I give five of the most significant of some hundreds of illustrations: The most widely used and effec- tive new weapon of this war was radar, which received its principal war development, especially in its microwave version, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; the center of development of the devices and methods for rendering the enemies' radar ineffective or its indications misleading was Harvard University; the principal center of development of the important series of rocket weapons was the California Institute of Technology; work on the most important anti- submarine warfare devices was coSrdinated and organized through contracts with Columbia University; it was scientists from the University of Chicago, the University of California, Columbia University, and other institutions of the United States and Great Britain who developed the atomic bombs which so dramatically delivered the final blow to end the war. In making the foregoing statement, I do not mean to detract from the magnificent work done by the manufacturing companies and their research and design staffs, or from the generally excellent co6peration of the technical branches of the armed services. Their work was necessary to enable these weapons to be made in quantity and to be used effectively. Very often they contributed important new ideas and improve- ments. Their research laboratories made splendid records of accomplishment in many, and often unique, lines. But I wish here especially to emphasize the important role of our university groups in the initial conception, reduction to practice, and often initial production for military use of many of our most effective new devices. Although the public frequently conceives of the academic scientists as visionary, impractical, and out of touch REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT with the facts of life, the record of this war demonstrates their vision, sound judgment, and practical skill to be one of our most significant sources of national security and strength. Within this general structure of the national war effort, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has played a role in which we can justly take satisfaction and pride. I believe that our greatest asset, our record of public service in our special fields of competence, has been enhanced. I shall later refer to some of our losses and battle scars, but first let me summarize a few high spots of our war record. We plan later to publish a comprehensive report on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in World War II. FORMER STUDENTS IN THE ARMED SERVICES A total of 8,776 alumni, or 23.6 per cent of all living former students, have been enrolled in the armed forces in this war, headed by 92 generals and 35 admirals. One hundred and forty-eight of these men made the supreme sacrifice for their country. Among the tremendous aggregate accomplishments of this group, far too varied to be detailed, is the fact that every warship in our great Navy was designed by, or under the direc- tion of, naval officers whose postgraduate training was obtained in the Course in Naval Construction and Engineering in our Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. WAR SERVICE BY THE STAFF Of our prewar staff of 681, a total of nearly 200 were granted leaves of absence to accept a wide variety of war assignments. Every remaining member of the staff devoted full or substantial time to essential war work at the Institute, in research, teach- ing, or administration. WAR CONTRACTS In the past five years, M.