PROJECT CIRRUS HISTORY 



I - INTRODUCTION 



This history ©f Project Cirrus was prepared at the request of the 

 Research Laboratory for three reasons. First of all, the project has been-- 

 and still is, at this writing- -of such unusual interest and significance, that 

 the telling of the story is merited for its own sake. Secondly, the termina- 

 tion of the project is bound to result in an eventual dispersal of the various 

 members of its personnel. Already Dr. Langmuir has retired from active 

 General Electric employ, and the other members of the project are, and 

 will be, more and more engaged in new and completely different activities. 

 And finally, the broad aspects of the project have such wide implications that 

 it is particularly important that the story be committed to paper "for the 

 record". 



It has not been easy to organize the raw material in any simple, logical 

 fashion. As is so often the case, the project was very complex, with a num- 

 ber of subdivisions associated with the main activity. Some of these subdi- 

 visions ran consecutively, some operated in parallel, and others intertwined 

 or branched off in variously divergent directions. 



Where it was possible the material has been arranged in chronological 

 or otherwise logical order. Where it was not possible, the various subor- 

 dinate topics have been taken up in as nearly a logical order as possible. As 

 a result, cases will be found where the story "gets ahead of itself", and 

 later it becomes necessary to retrace one's steps to pick up the thread. 



The history, with the exception of the Introduction and Conclusion, 

 divides itself naturally into two main parts. The first is the story of the 

 early activities which led to the formation of Project Cirrus. The second 

 is the story of Project Cirrus itself. 



Schenectady, New York B. S. Havens 



July, 1952 



