Industrial Research 



75 



ical, metallurgical, X-ray, photomicropirapliic and phys- 

 ical testing laboratories are equipped and staffed for 

 some research. 



Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory 



In 1879 Dr. Gustav Lindenthal, a bridge builder, 

 went to Pittsburgh; with him went ^Villiam Kent and 

 William F. Zimmerman to act as inspectors of steel on 

 his projects. In the course of their work at the Dia- 

 mond Iron & Steel Co. they met Alfred E. Hunt, super- 

 intendent of the open hearth plant, ami George H. 

 Clapp, the plant chemist. Kent and Zimmerman 

 organized the Pittsburgh Testing Laboratory in 1881; 

 Hunt and Clapp joined forces with them later and in 

 1887 bought them out. 



One of the outstanding achievements of the Pitts- 

 burgh Testing Laboratory was the proof in 1888 that 

 the Hall process would produce aluminum on a commer- 

 cial scale. For several years the laboratory exercised 

 control over the production of alummum bj' the Pitts- 

 burgh Reduction Company. 



The testing of portland cement was also a pioneer 

 activity of the laboratory, for which, at one time, the 

 company had branch laboratories in many of the large 

 cement mills in the colmtrJ^ Although the company 

 still tests a great deal of cement, the branch laboratories 

 have long since been taken over by the mills themselves. 



The laboratorj- inspected the steel for such structures 

 as Brooklyn Bridge, the bridge over the Firth of Forth 

 in Scotland, and International Bridge over the Niagara 

 River at Niagara Falls. 



In the sense that research frequentlj' involves a suc- 

 cession of suitable tests, each one depending upon an 

 analysis of the results of preceding tests, the Pittsburgh 

 Testing Laboratory, as well as other testing labor- 

 atories, can be said to do some industrial research. 



The United States Testing Company, Inc. 



The United States Testing Company, Inc., developed 

 from the needs of a particular industry. Prior to 1872 

 the raw silk used m the manufacture of merchandise in 

 the United States came principally from China, Italy, 

 and France. Conditioning houses in France and Italy 

 determined the size, quality, gum and water content of 

 much of the raw silk that was sent to the United States, 

 but no facilities existed for getting similar information 

 regarding the raw silk from China. As a step toward 

 a remedy for this situation. The Silk Association of 

 America, Inc., was formed in 1872. Its first report 

 contained a recommendation that a conditioning house 

 be established in New York City. 



In September 1880, Messrs. Poidebard and Muzard 

 issued a printed announcement to the silk trade that 

 they were establishing the New York Silk and Wool 

 Conditioning Works. After a diflBcult career financially, 



the company, whose name had meanwhile been changed 

 to the New York Silk Conditioning Works, was merged in 

 1909 with the United States Silk Conditioning Company, 

 which hail been incorporated in 1907. After D. E. 

 Douty, of the National Bureau of Standards, became 

 general manager in 1913, the company's activities were 

 so greatly extended that the original name no longer 

 accurately indicated the work of the company and, in 

 1920, it was changed to the United States Testing 

 Company, Inc. 



With the hiring of a chemist in 1911, the directors 

 of the company initiated the research which is now con- 

 ducted on pro])lems relating to the textile industry and 

 to the designing, developing, and numufacturing of 

 standard instruments and apparatus. In 1928 the com- 

 pany developed tints which were fugitive and would 

 eliminate the then prevalent fabric defects due to the 

 use of unsuitable dyes. Continued research has since 

 developed a greater range of shades and at the same 

 time produced tints suitable for rayon and acetates, 

 spun viscose, wool, and silk. 



Bibliography 



Books 



AcKERMAN, Carl W. George Eastman. Boston, New York, 

 Houghton Mitfliii Company, 1930. 522 p. 



American Society for Testing Materials. Memorial volume 

 commemorative of the life and life-work of Charles Benjamin 

 Dudley. Philadelphia, Pa., The society, 1911. 269 p. 



American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Research 

 reports and papers, 1932. vol. 4. New York, The society, 

 1932. 253 p. 



Angell, .Tames Rowland. The development of research in the 

 United States {Reprint and circular series of the National 

 Researcli Council, No, (5.) Washington, D. C, National 

 Research Council, 1919. 19 p. 



Arnold, Matthew. Higher schools and universities in Ger- 

 many. London, Macmillan and Company, 1874. 270 p. 



Broderick, John T. Fortj' years with General Electric. 

 Albany, N. Y., Fort Orange Press, 1929. 218 p. 



Butler, Nicholas Murray, Ed. P^ducation in United States. 

 Albany, N. Y., J. B. Lyon Company, 1900. 2 V. 



Carnegie, Andrew. Autobiography. Boston and New York, 

 Houghton Mifflin Company, 1920. 385 p. 



Carty', John J. Science and business. (Reprint and circular 

 series of the National Research Council, No. 55.) Washing- 

 ton, D. C, National Research Council, 1924. 8 p. 



Carty, John J. Science and the industries. (Reprint and cir- 

 cular series of the National Research Council, No. 8.) Wash- 

 ington, D. C, National Research Council, 1920. 16 p. 



Clark, Victor S. History of manufactures in the United States, 

 vol. 2 (1860-93). New York, Published for the Carnegie 

 Institution of Washington by the McGraw-Hill Book Company, 

 Inc., 1929. 566 p. 



Copley, Frank B. Frederick W. Taylor, father of scientific 

 management, vol.1. New York, London, Harper and Broth- 

 ers, 1923. 467 p. 



Dana, Edward S., and others. A century of science in America, 

 with special reference to the American Journal of Science, 

 1818-1918. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1918. 458 p. 



