Evening star., 1953-02-01
BY the A,seeintad Pres,

CAMBRIDGE, Mass, Jan. 81.
Has new era arrived in the
art of printing ?
The age of movable type began
with Johann Gutenberg five CEN
turies ago.
Today, electronics men have
tossed out movable type in its
various forms in a laboratory
break with tradition.
In its place, they have come
up with a machine operated by
an otherwise unframed typist. A
Pickering in millionths of a
second "Sets up" type on a
Photographic film. The film can
be used either directly or in
directly for engraving plates for
printing.
Next Thursday a prototype Of
the new machine-called pho
ton"-will> give its first book to
the world. The first copy will
60 into the library of the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology
as the gift of the Graphic Arts
Research Foundation.
DR.. Bush to Present Book.
DR. Vannevar Bush. president
of the Carnegie Institution of
Washington and a member of the
foundations Board of Directors,
will make the presentation of the
book at a luncheon at the NIT
Faculty Club. The book, "The
Wonderful World of Insects" will
be accepted by DR.. Karl T. Comp
ton, chairman of the NIT Corp.
The Graphs Arts Research
Foundation was set up in 1949
to promote the development OF
electronic photo composition.
Newspaper, magazine and book
publishers, printers and adver-
tisers have yet to evaluate fully
the impact of the "Photon."
How does it work?
A standard electric typewriter
mechanism is mounted in what
looks something like an organ
console-about the size of a
large desk. There's an extra
top row of keys. At right are
some button controls-like the
stops on an organ.
These controls are needed be-
cause "Photon" combines 16 dif-
ferent families of type on one
glass disc weighing a pound and
a half. An equivalent amount of
matrices (type molds) for stand
ard typecasting machines now
In use would weigh two tons and
cost about $4,000.
"Photon" can shift from one
to another type style in the mid
die of a line. Size can be in
stantly varied from five-point to
S6-point. Still other type styles
can be provided on other matrix
discs which can be changed in
80 seconds.
Mechanical Memory.
When the operator touches a
key, the character represented
goes into a storage unit, a sort
of mechanical memory, at the
back of the tipping mechanism.
The characters the operator has
struck simultaneously are typed
out in front of the operator.
AS the end of the line ap-
proaches, she hears audible sig
mails. They warn her to end the
line, depending on the width of
spacing she is using. If she
makes a mistake, she can go
back, subtract the wrong letter
or letters from the machines
memory" and substitute the
right characters. Or she can
wipe out, and repeat, the whole
line.
Meanwhile, the automatic part
of the machine is busy. A justi-
flying mechanism which has asti-
mated automatically the space
needed for each letter, regardless
of type-size, also divides the in
ter-word spaces evenly so that
the line will reach neatly and
exactly left to right across the
width of column or page. o.
type can be centered, or set in
columns for tables.
There is no wait. The typist
goes right on tipping her mex
line and the machines mem
ory" goes to work, delivering tt
the photographing equipment
been held in storage"
All the time. the glass matri1
disc with all the alphabets on it
in eight circular rows. spin!
steadily ten times a second. JUS
as the proper letter arrives at {
tiny opening, a stroboScopic lighr
flashes. The powerful flash
lasting only millionths of a sec.
ond, snaps the picture of the
letter as through the disc were
standing still. A turret Of lenses