Dahlgren's First Leading Scientist 21 



working in the scientific world, and I can think of many other reasons a person 

 would be interested in doing work that is important to the country and could 

 affect the country. It was perfectly obvious in those days that we needed this 

 kind of help for the military. 



What personal goals did you set in approaching your work! What were your objectives'? 



In those days, I just wanted to get started with a program of work that would 

 be significant in the military field, so my goals were to set up a framework that 

 would be helpful, particularly to the Navy, in accomplishing what they were 

 trying to do through the aid of the additional machinery that comes with a 

 scientific environment. It was the appreciation of the importance of that 

 framework in making progress that was lacking in the early days — not necessar- 

 ily just at Dahlgren. It was a question of the military establishment as a whole 

 not being certain that they needed the help. On the other hand, many of the 

 individuals in the establishment were quite interested in the scientific tools that 

 had to be used in order to get ahead. 



What was the initial environment like at Dahlgren for conductirig your work? 



If you mean by environment the attitude of the people toward work of this 

 kind, there was obviously a considerable need for a better understanding of 

 what the work was about and what it was intended to do for them. I'm speaking 

 now about the people in the military establishment in general — not just about 

 Dahlgren. In the early days, people thought of this kind of work as something 

 being imposed on them, not something that was necessary for them to get 

 ahead. Later, they changed that view and became very much interested in 

 getting scientific help. It worked out all right, but it took a little while. I don't 

 mean it was done as a result of our work at Dahlgren, but the country as a whole 

 became more aware of the need for the tools that the scientific establishment 

 could provide to allow advancement in the military field that they depended on. 



Since Dahlgren was under Indian Head at the time, did you feel any pressure from that 

 area? 



No, nothing in particular. There was always a great deal of back and forth 

 discussion on common interests, but not many formal meetings. 



Did you get much support from the Nairy's Bureau of Ordnance and from Washington in 

 general during th£ 1920's and 1930's? 



The Bureau of Ordnance and other parts of the military establishment in 

 that area were interested, but they were not as impressed with the importance 



