PREFACE 



Compilation of Dahlgren's history began several years ago. This was a for- 

 midable endeavor in the scientific environment of the Laboratory where rapid 

 technical progress has naturally taken precedence over formal documentation 

 of historical events. Personnel records from the early years had disappeared; 

 dates found in books, documents, and newspapers were not in agreement. 

 However, after much original "digging" by Mr. Jack Brooks, Jr., and later by 

 Mrs. Cynthia Rouse, the Dahlgren picture began to develop. Throughout all of 

 this, it became apparent that the best resources for the history of Dahlgren were 

 the people who played major roles in the operation of the Laboratory over the 

 years. Therefore, it was decided to let the Dahlgren story be told by those 

 participants. 



The chapters in this book are, for all practical purposes, in chronological 

 order with the exceptions of Chapter I and the overview of Navy Labs given by 

 Admiral Withington in Chapter XIIL Some of the information, however, does 

 overlap as did the careers of the individuals. 



Chief credit for the data collection and interviewing must go to Mrs. Rouse 

 who conducted most of the interviews, verified biographical and bibliographi- 

 cal material, and screened out a great amount of irrelevant and repetitious 

 information. Thanks are also due to Mr. Bernard Smith for his suggestions and 

 to Mr. Arthur Jones for his encouragement and invaluable advice during the 

 project. 



KENNETH G. McCOLLUM 



June 1, 1977 



