 |
Arnold O. Beckman
Born: April 1900, Cullom, Illinois
Died: 18 May 2004, La Jolla, California
|
Education
Honors
|
Interview no.: 0014B
Date of interview: 23 July 1985
Location: University of Pennsylvania
No. of pages: 46
Interviewer:
Jeffrey L. Sturchio, Arnold Thackray
Minutes: 180
Access level: Free Access. Users may view, quote from, cite, or reproduce the oral history with the permission of CHF. Users citing interviews for purposes of publication are obliged under the terms of the CHF Oral History Program to notify CHF of publication and credit CHF using the following format: [Name of interviewee], interview by [name of interviewer] at [interview location], [interview date] (Philadelphia: Chemical Heritage Foundation, Oral History Transcript # [interview number]).
|
The second interview begins with Arnold Beckman describing the National Technical Laboratories in the late 1930s. He details NTL policies and operations. The majority of the transcript focuses on the change from NTL to Beckman Instruments and the development of spectrophotometry instrumentation during the 1940s. The other projects that are discussed include mass spectrometers, Geiger counters, pocket electroscopes, and especially the oxygen analyzer. A description of Beckman's reinvolvement with Caltech following World War II follows this section. Finally, the interview concludes with Beckman examining air pollution work in Los Angeles, the formation of Shockley Laboratories, and the future of the instrumentation industry.
|
| Title & Description |
|
Page No. |
|
|
|
The State of Spectroscopy and National Technical Laboratories in the Early 1940s
Manufacturers of spectrophotometers. Different typesof spectrophotometers. Interest of scientists in spectrophotometers. Little knowledge of business world at early NTL. Publicity for the spectrophotometer. Development and market research. Creation of sales and service support. |
|
1 |
|
|
|
Childhood and Early Education
Family background. Gymnasium and interest in science. Influence of father. |
|
1 |
|
|
|
National Technical Laboratories
Personnel and their responsibilities. Employees encouraged in their own business ventures. Entrepreneurial environment in Pasadena area. J. Bishop and business techniques at NTL. Philosophy and education for business. Employee relations. Company philosophy. Decision to leave Caltech. Business methods. Advice for scientific entrepreneurs. |
|
7 |
|
|
|
University Education
Attendance at Technical University in Berlin. Work in laboratory at Institute of Cosmic Radiation Research. Decision to go to the United States. Exchange with Auburn University. |
|
9 |
|
|
|
Bartol Research Foundation
Radiation counting. Projects for National Research Defense Council. Work on navigation instrumentation. Clearance for classified work. |
|
14 |
|
|
|
Development of the Spectrophotometer
Funding for the DU and other research. Government role in funding research and development. Involvement in synthetic rubber project. IR and UV spectrophotometers. Problems in marketing spectrophotometers through dealers. |
|
15 |
|
|
|
Other Beckman Instruments, Inc. Projects During World War II
Manufacture of mass spectrometers, Geiger counters, and pocket electroscopes. Development of the oxygen analyzer. Problems with manufacture of bulbs for oxygen analyzer. Development of quartz fibers for oxygen analyzer. Merger of Arnold O. Beckman, Inc. and Beckman Instruments, Inc. Organization of the Board of Directors of Beckman Instruments. Income and organization of subsidiaries. Attitude toward post-war plans. |
|
19 |
|
|
|
Post-World War II Period at Caltech
Personal reinvolvement with Caltech. Changes concerning applied science. Chairman of the Board. Fundraising. Tensions between science and engineering. Impact of changes in federal research and development funding. Classified research. |
|
25 |
|
|
|
Air Pollution Work and Other Projects
Active in Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. Growing concern over air pollution in Los Angeles area. Incorrect focus on sulfur dioxide as source of pollution. Discovery of auto exhaust as pollutant. Meeting with Henry Ford II. Member of National Air Pollution Board. Setting up Shockley Laboratories. Development of cermets. Future direction of instrumentation industry. |
|
30 |
|
|
|
Future Direction of Instrumentation Industry
Miniaturization. Competition in the instrumentation field. Involvement in Japan's entry into semi-conductor industry. Electronic instrumentation and the health care field. Need for new methods of education. |
|
35 |
|
|
|
Notes
|
|
40 |
|
|
|
Index
|
|
42 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1922 |
|
B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois |
|
|
|
| 1923 |
|
M.S., Physical Chemistry, University of Illinois |
|
|
|
| 1928 |
|
Ph.D., Photochemistry, California Institute of Technology |
|
|
|
| 1960 |
|
Illinois Achievement Award, University of Illinois
|
|
|
|
| 1964 |
|
Chairman, Board of Trustees, California Institute of Technology
|
|
|
|
| 1965 |
|
Honorary Sc.D. degree, Chapman College
|
|
|
|
| 1969 |
|
Honorary LL.D. degree, University of California at Riverside
|
|
|
|
| 1969 |
|
Honorary LL.D. degree, Loyola University in California
|
|
|
|
| 1974 |
|
Scientific Apparatus Makers Association Award
|
|
|
|
| 1977 |
|
Honorary LL.D. degree, Pepperdine University
|
|
|
|
| 1977 |
|
Honorary Sc.D. degree, Whittier College
|
|
|
|
| 1977 |
|
Arnold O. Beckman Conference in Clinical Chemistry, established by American Association for Clinical Chemistry
|
|
|
|
| 1980 |
|
Arnold O. Beckman Professorship of Chemistry, established by California Institute of Technology
|
|
|
|
| 1981 |
|
Hoover Medal, American Association of Engineering Societies
|
|
|
|
| 1981 |
|
Life Achievement Award, Instrument Society of America
|
|
|
|
| 1982 |
|
Diploma of Honor, Association of Clinical Scientists
|
|
|
|
| 1987 |
|
Vermilye Medal, The Franklin Institute
|
|
|
|
| 1987 |
|
National Inventors Hall of Fame, Washington, D.C.
|
|
|
|
| 1988 |
|
National Medal of Technology
|
|
|
|
| 1989 |
|
Charles Lathrop Parsons Award, American Chemical Society
|
|
|
|
| 1989 |
|
National Medal of Science
|
Jeffrey L. Sturchio is Executive Director, Public Affairs, Human Health Europe, Middle East & Africa, at Merck & Co., Inc., where he is responsible for the development, coordination, and implementation of a range of policy and communications initiatives for the region. Before assuming his current position in 1995, he was Merck’s Director, Science & Technology Policy, in the Corporate Public Affairs Department from 1993 to 1994; and Associate Director, Information Resources & Publishing, from 1992 to 1993. After a sojourn on the senior staff of the AT&T Archives, Dr. Sturchio joined Merck & Co., Inc. as Corporate Archivist in June 1989. He received an A.B. in history from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in the history and sociology of science from the University of Pennsylvania. He was Associate Director of the Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry from 1984 to 1988, and has held teaching appointments at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, and the University of Pennsylvania as well as a fellowship at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
Arnold Thackray is president of the Chemical Heritage Foundation. He majored in the physical sciences before turning to the history of science, receiving a Ph.D. from Cambridge University in 1966. He has held appointments at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1983 he received the Dexter Award from the American Chemical Society for outstanding contributions to the history of chemistry. He served on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania for more than a quarter of a century. There, he was the founding chairman of the Department of History and Sociology of Science, where he is the Joseph Priestley Professor Emeritus.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|