176 Dahlgren 



are concerned. I remember years ago at NOL we were concerned about mine 

 firing mechanisms, and we came up with a magnificent new method for 

 measuring blood pressure precisely. You never know what a scientist is going to 

 turn up. By the same token, you never know either whether he's awake or 

 asleep when he sits behind his desk with his eyes closed. This man may be in a 

 government laboratory or he may be in private industry; but if he's working for 

 you and he's good, you're just plain lucky. The scientist is also a very tempera- 

 mental man, as I learned at NOL. One of them said he hated to come to work 

 because he didn't like to get up in the morning, but once he was awake, he was a 

 damn good man. 



I don't think it's wise to say that we should attempt to achieve leadership in 

 science in the Navy Labs or in private industry or in the colleges and univer- 

 sities. You ought to try to promote it wherever you can, and certainly you ought 

 to try to keep the quality of the scientific staffs in the Navy Labs at the highest 

 possible level. 



A certain amount of cross-fertilization is possible by transferring between 

 Naval Laboratories. For example, Barney Smith spent many years at the Naval 

 Ordnance Test Station in California before he became Technical Director at 

 Dahlgren. This cross-fertilization proved to be very advantageous to Dahlgren. 

 I have the highest opinion of him. 



Can you recall any significant people who had a particular impact on the development of 

 Navy Labs? 



My list wo.uld, of course, not be all-inclusive. I already mentioned Dr. Brad- 

 bury, who worked during World War II at Dahlgren before going to Los 

 Alamos. Dr. Teller, the inventor of the hydrogen bomb, has also had a real 

 personal influence on Navy Laboratories. Dr. Thompson is one of the giants in 

 the field. His assistant, in my day as a postgraduate student, Mr. Riffolt, was the 

 scientific staff of Dr. Thompson at Dahlgren. They were it, and they did an 

 enormous amount of work between them. One of the finest men who, unfortu- 

 nately, recendy died at too early an age, was Dr. W. B. McLean at the Naval 

 Ordnance Test Station. He was the developer of the SIDEWINDER missile for 

 which he received a $25,000 award from President Eisenhower. One of the 

 greatest men to ever support naval ordnance was Dr. Lauritsen under whose 

 watchful eye the Naval Ordnance Test Station was established primarily in a 

 large, naked part of the United States where rockets could be tested without 

 killing anybody. He is, also, unfortunately gone. Dr. Bennettt, the Technical 

 Director at NOL in my day, is now, after leaving the government service and 

 being employed by Martin- Marietta and General Electric, more or less retired 

 and operating only as a consultant. Mr. Browning at Indian Head was a great 

 man. He tried his best to make Indian Head effective in research and develop- 

 ment. 



