784 THE BELL SYSTEM TECHNICAL JOURNAL, OCTOBER 1951 



adjustment of the young men to their change in environment from the 

 university to industry as they came to our laboratories was considerable. 

 It became a habit of the research directors to place with him for a year or 

 so junior scientists on their entrance into our laboratories. Dr. J. A. Becker 

 and Dr. William Shockley are typical of the men who were introduced into 

 the Laboratories through a period of association with him. 



We have always welcomed young scientists from the graduate schools of 

 our universities for summer work. This gives them a view of the operation 

 of an industrial laboratory, and is an aid to us in the selection of young 

 research men from the schools. Several of them were assigned to work with 

 Davisson. Some have since had distinguished careers in science. Drs. Lee A. 

 DuBridge, Merle Tuve, and Philip Morse are among the graduate students 

 who worked with Davisson during their summer employment with us. 



It was fortunate that Davisson, who had come to stay for the duration 

 of the war, elected to stay with the laboratories to work as a scientist in 

 areas of physics important to our programs rather than return to university 

 life. He established a pattern of fundamental research that has continued 

 and enlarged in scope as our laboratories have evolved and reached matur- 

 ity. Across the forefronts of the physics, mathematics, and chemistry, which 

 are basic to telecommunication technology, we now have many scientists 

 whose programs are directed, as was Davisson's, only at expanding funda- 

 mental knowledge, and who do not divert their energies even to the funda- 

 mental development phases of our technology. It is a tribute to Davisson's 

 overpowering interest in science, and to his steadfastness in the pursuit of 

 knowledge through the scientific method of experiment and analysis that 

 during the pioneering and rapid expansion years of our laboratories, when 

 development demanded the attention of most of our scientists, he gave 

 almost undivided attention to the scientific aspects of our work. Through- 

 out his career he has remained a scientist and has maintained a working 

 knowledge at the forefront of a wide area of physics. 



Throughout his thirty years at the Laboratories, Davisson's circle of 

 friends among scientists steadily grew, not only within his own country but 

 extending to Europe and the Orient. His capacity for friendships is large, 

 and each of us at the Laboratories in daily contact with him has enjoyed a 

 close friendship of exceptional warmth. The integrity and quality of his 

 work are universally appreciated. He is held in high regard, not only for it 

 but also because of his fine personal qualities. He is shy and modest. Be- 

 cause of this, it requires an association of some duration to know Davisson 

 the man. He has a keen sense of humor, which flashes upon you in most un- 

 expected ways. Unusually slight in stature with a fragile physical frame, 

 his weight never exceeded 115 pounds, and for many years it hovered 



