62 burgess: science; and after- war period 



being made here. All the steel made from certain ores in this 

 country necessarily carried four or five times the stipulated 

 copper. Although at first insisting on the rejection of the 

 steel, the government in question finally accepted it after over- 

 whelming evidence was submitted showing that ten times the 

 amount of copper was not only not detrimental but also of actual 

 advantage in this steel. This single contract involved several 

 millions of dollars; the total cost of all the experimental work 

 ever done the world over on the effect of copper on steel would 

 be at most a few thousands. 



The second illustration is given by another government which 

 desired to purchase steel here for aircraft parts with a phosphorus 

 and sulphur content together of less than 0.03 per cent. They 

 could buy no steel, and if they had been able to place an order 

 it would have been at an exorbitant price. The fact that all the 

 other allied countries were using a much less rigid specification 

 with safety finally convinced them that theirs was too severe. 

 Incidentally this latter case shows the evident advantages of 

 interchange of ideas and experience in such matters. 



Not a little of the delays in production of many materials 

 for war purposes was due to the multiplicity of specifications 

 insisted upon by the various independent purchasing depart- 

 ments of the Government. Some progress is being made toward 

 unity in standardization and specifications in the War Depart- 

 ment and it is highly desirable that there be constituted a central 

 body with authority for all departments. A single board, for 

 example, to frame metal specifications for all would make for 

 economy and efficiency. 



That the technical public is now ready for such simplification 

 and uniformity is evident by the recent creation, somewhat on 

 the British model, of the Engineering Standards Committee. 

 The Germans are also said to be forming a similar organization 

 and the French and Italian governments have organized stand- 

 ards committees. It is to be hoped that this is one of the after- 

 war activities to be pushed. It is not too much to say we have 

 entered an era of standardization. It is not necessary before a 



