Early Research in Electrodeposition Ment

\re to purchl latter The reason why we say that It may mean is pa~ lrplus more 18 that the Battelle Institute 1s working on corom sslon, Gtn1umltus £Utning basic problems. as yet unsOlved.. concerning the to the 'Ie the properties of metals ""nd other mineral substauces Hov suf be de, lispatr~ either already used. In the arts and lndustrles, Ion Is nount or possibly ,capable ot being ueed. to advantage, A~ INDBPtlNDB~r than: tment NEWSPAPER. after sclentitlo reeee.rch has more fully deter.. other state CQLllJIBUS fiBKlNO mSPA'I'CB. DAILY. mIned their properties and ca-pablUtles, either derIve It pay COLll1IIBll8 8l1NDAY DISPAWB. 8tlNDAY n the alone or 1D combtnatlon With other 8ubstaucea. menUl : cost TBII DlSPA'I'CB PRIN'1'INO CO. Such unaolved problems connected wIth min.. The uuthOl. Istrial eral Bubstaneese are of untold number. and ~ title mtssio douttless an anny Of sclentlata will be wreetJJng appro] with them tor generations yet; to come. Sometimes OUghtl :hould such research suddenly hits upon grea.t dJ&.. rovl9~ a Uon ( moro covery, utterly unforeseen. bUG of tremendous after n the Importance In the further '.levelopment at tbe which funds ma.terlal and social phases of our clvlllze.tlon. In , bove- Such discoveries are welcomed. when they come, canno but In the usual oouree of things, the workers whIch erred, In an institution Uke the Battelle Memorial render fuctor com their service to science and IndUStry In a less select stateh g'R to adding spectacular wa.y. constantly bite at new near t thor lmowledge. at one point or another. which, as 10cn. Publlcatlon Office: Dlspateb. Bldl., "' s. Third 8t. the years go by, effect a steady and Jmport:l;,!),t. days p~eS8 In man's task of leamlng the secreta ot 'rho llsure, Bntered at the, 'columbus. OhIo, poit office as nature and turning them Into instrumentalities becatIf .econd-clasa mail matter under act of cona-resa. the V of human welfare. limits bulldir nount HONDA:r. JULY 21, 1930. The· Battelle Memoria.! 1D8t1tute Is well de.. thh'ds satis Signed in Its purpose. and 80 far as It has gone assem -(1 "to it.is accumuJatlngthe best ofeqUlPJDent for the misslo the One of Our New Industries. carrying out of that purpose. founders th(':!o' II lently Its and pERHAP... few Of us apprec1ate thevaluIlI ., directors have w1sely provided ample room for cetvo J ColumbuaOf the !enloe rendered. by tbe the physical growth of the plant; and uite term. The Ba.ttelle famtll In establlshlnc the Battelle character and purpose are more fully apprecl.a.ted, aelluir gl'ncy Memorial Inatltute" the scientific work of which we have no doubt that far..seelng and· pubUc rela ttt apprOI was begUn abOut & year ago, on c:om.plet1on at the spirited of In else.. hotel men means. COlumbus and 'rhe "two bea.utlful 1Dltlal bUlldlDg. on West Jt1ng avenue. where, w111 take pride In fum1shlDg It \\l'lth· such house r€'!'lent As the eDd of tta 1ll'8t year of operation ap addittonal endowmen-',- or such apeclal funda for honr<1~ com proach~, Ita payroll, ,11 told, hu only about the working out at f>dl'tlcule.r problema In re.. be ho after 60 names; but tn the course of the Je&rs to c:ome. aea.rch. as m""y train 'lme to tune be needed. the ar to re It may mean more to the development of Colum.. The time wU1 CUale when BC1entLsta and lDdua.. pa.rtlll' I-year bus, even from the material polDt. of View, than trlallstB In many land will know of Columbus aa cl('riC~1 Industries which number their employu by the the home Of the Be.ttelle Memorial Institute. Prel1 ~d to hundreds or thousandS. the ca ~Irt or • comml ScienceServingHumanNeeds he history of Battelle Memorial The man central to the story of the Institute is Institute is the story of a man, of Gordon Battelle-a man who possessed amazing an idea, of an organization that foresight and believed in the usefulness of scientific grew out of that idea, of a research. In death, and by his Will, he gave Jife to the dedicated staff, of some happy Institute. Gordon Battelle died on September 21, circumstances and some difficult 1923, leaving a Will which provided that the bulk of problems as well, and most important, of a long line his estate be used to create /la Battelle Memorial In of achievements that have added human value to stitute ... for the encouragement ofcreative research scientific knowledge. It is an unending story, for the ... and the making of discoveries and inventions", Institute is both a living memorial and a dynamic The Institute was to serve as a memorial to his multinational organization. It seemS particularly timely to review this story as Battelle completes its Gordon Battelle (1883-1923)-the founder of Battelle Memorial first half century of service to society. Institute. family-pioneers in Ohio and in its early steel Gordon Battelle was also the son of a highly industry. successful "self-made" man, Colonel John Gordon Two years later (1925), Gordon's mother, Annie Battelle, who by hard work and drive came to be Norton Battelle, died and left the balance of the president of two steel companies-one of which was Battelle family fortune to the same purpose, makin~ later to become part of the U.S. Steel Corporation the total a sum of about $3.5 million-an impressive; and the other, a part of the American Rolling Mill although not awesome amount even by 192:> Company, now Armco Steel. standards. After attending Yale University, Gordon Battelle On the surface, Gordon Battelle would appear a returned to Columbus to work in his father's steel most unlikely p-erson to found an organization mill. He began at the bottom and set about mastering dedicated to scientific research, education, and in every detail of the work. "But," as he told a friend, HI vention and technology development activities. He want to do something on my own". He did not want was not a scientist or engineer. He was not an inven to be "just a rich man's son". tor. He didn't discover anything. He held no patents. Following several years in the Columbus mill, He wrote no books. Yet his conviction that applied Gordon went to Joplin, Missouri, where he invested research had practical value has proved to be as im in r1)ining and smelting companies. While in Joplin, portant, as influential, and as significant a concept as he became interested in research being done by a any in the Twentieth Century. former-lmiversity professor, W. George Waring, who Those who knew Gordon Battelle described hin'l was trying to develop a process for recovering as quiet and serious. He was more philosopher than valuable chemicals from waste products of mining. activist. He was a competent businessman, but not by' Gordon Battelle set up a small laboratory for any means a leader or innovator. He was, according' Professor Waring for the research and eventually a to a friend, IIquiet, solid anddependable". commercial process was perfected. Inspired by his happy experience with the research on mine wastes, Gordon Battelle began to Earliest known aerial view of the Institute in Columbus, taken in the 1930's, showing then~completed portions of the original building think about the possibilities of science and of what it (left) and Building One, known to old~timers as lithe foundry". could do not only for industry but also for the people 2 The Battelle staff in 1930. All but two staff members were present It should be noted that the Institute began when this photo was taken -in front of the original building. operations just as the Great Depression struck-a depression that existed throughout the 30's almost to the onset of World War II. Thus, it can be said that and the society that industry serves. To learn more Battelle's first 16 years-through depression and about research and how it was being organized, he war-were far from an ideal time fora new and quite visited many laboratories being set up by manufac unusual organization to find its place in the world. turing companies. And yet, each year in that formative period saw the In 1920, three years before his death, Gordon Institute growing and diversifying its interests. drew up his Will calling for the establishment of a At the time the Institute began operations, it had a Battelle Memorial Institute to be governed by a self staff of about 30 people, and annual research expen- perpetuating Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees, in the four years following incorporation in 1925, acquired a site of about ten Horace Gillett, Battelle's first Director (right), and Clyde Williams, acres in Columbus on King Avenue adjacent to- The the second Director, in the early 1930's. Ohio State University, and carried out plans for a laboratory which was built and opened for use in Oc tober, 1929. Equally important, to begin operations, the Board chose a director-Dr. Horace W. Gillett, who was considered by his peers liThe Dean of American Metallurgy". Describing Dr. Gillett, Dr. B. D. Thomas, one of Gillett's successors at Battelle, said: "This was the man who placed the stamp of his own character on the new Battelle. This was the man who convinced the Board that scientists were trustworthy but who shocked the conservative members by insisting that scientists should have a month's vacation each year and should be required to take it.

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