one way to measure deep sea temperatures accurately. Why have 

 we progressed so slowly? Why have only two or three oceanogra- 

 phic instruments conne into general use since 1900? Why do we 

 sometimes have doubts about the ability of these 'well-qualified 

 companies" to answer all our problems? 



The answers lie in the ocean itself, its nature, the behavior 

 of small ships on the surface, and the physiological reaction of 

 man to this behavior. Quite a number of young fellows started 

 out and decided the resistance thermometer could give precise 

 temperature measurements, for example, and only stopped when 

 they ran up against problenns introduced by several nniles of cable 

 dangling in an ocean of nonuniform temperature, with perhaps 

 part of the cable still sitting on deck, either warmed by a tropi- 

 cal sun or cooled by frozen spray. 



Quite a number of electronic gadgets that work perfectly 

 well in the laboratory turn out to be allergic to high humidity, 

 fluctuating line voltage, vibration, and seasick operators. 



The interest of U. S. Industry in our problems is really very 

 heartening to all of us in the laboratories. We hope that some of 

 the companies in instrumentation will learn of our problems and 

 will come forward with solutions. We hope they will send their 

 people out to sea to measure something from small, uncomfortable 

 ships like the ones that are going to have to keep our program 

 going for several years at least. This is about the only way to 

 grasp the problem fully. Again, I repeat what other people have 

 said: "There has to be an effort to keep things simple. " Even 

 those lucky ones among us who never get seasick operate at 

 fractional efficiency after a few days of tossing in a ship. 



The maintenance of electronic equipment, which might be 

 dead simple ashore, can become absolutely impossible when 

 the chassis refuse to stand still. 



The man who studies the ocean proceeds very much like any 

 other scientist. He takes the best reliable instruments that he can 

 get his hands on, and he goes out and makes observations. When 

 he begins to suspect that he knows what his subject is like, he 

 makes the kinds of observations necessary to check his suspicions. 

 Soon he finds he is working to the limit of the available instru- 

 ments and he may be trying to modify them and get a little better 



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