Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-08-18
BY John McKelwoy

ing on Constitution avenue. and
asks for help.
The request involves the Gov
ernment's need for the truth and
nothing but the truth in a stu
alton. And, better than any
other place, the National Acad-
envy Of Sciences. 2101 Constitu-
ton avenue, is equipped to find
it.
Under the cornice Of the front
facade Of the, academy's build
ing are Clipped the words:
. The search for Truth Is in one
way hard and IN another easy.
For it Is evident that no one can
master it fully nor miss it wholly.
But each adds a little to our
knowledge, and from all the
facts assembled there arises q
certain grandeur.
This certain grandeur" that
Aristotle spoke of is not at once
discernible. Tourists, at least.
don't flock outside the academy
to cape at some misty cloud of
grandeur" rising like heat waves
from the white marbled build
ing. In fact, those at the acad-
envy feel, a cloud of misunder-
standing Grapes the building--if
anything.
Men Who Know Facts.
But the grandeur must be
there to members Of the academy
the vanguard of American
science. For the academy does
precisely what Aristotle de-
scribed: It assemblies facts by
assembling men. who know the
facts or where to look for them.
Possibly, the grandeur is made
up of little whiffs of truth. (The
size of a truth matters little to
a scientist. so long as it is one.)
Such a Whit might be seen over
a booklet in the academy's liz
brary entitled "Squeal Of Tires
Rounding Curves" or over an
other collection Of facts on us
ing Self Contained Underwater
Breathing Apparatus" OF course,
in the same library there are
facts upon facts on atomic en-
>ergy, antibiotics. blood plasma.
radar. the proximity fuse, rocket
projectiles and artificial limbs.
It could be most of the grandeur
emanates from these.
These facts are the results of
studies launched by the academy
at the request Of the Govern
ment, or some independent
agency. or some business con-
Germ. or because the academy
got a bit curious itself and de-
cided to investigate.
When 4 study is finished, who-
ever ASKED for it gets a cold,
objective detailed description of
a truth. IT has been drawn up by
men with no ak to grind and free
from any influence or pressure.
This is the atmosphere they work
in.
Universal Quest.
The search for truth wanders
everywhere -.
AS an example. there was at
one time a general feeling among
highway officials that, as the tire
squeal booklet states. "if a We
hicle in making a turn, develops
tire squeal it is. or is on the
verge of, skidding laterally." Act
ing on this assumption, highway
designers felt tire squeal could
be used as a criterion of safety
when planning a tight curve.
But the Highway Committee
Of the academy decided to look
into thes assumption. Contracting
top tire men and highway off,
Gals throughout the country, a
scientific study was made of the
presSures, the tread, the noise, the
various forces at work on tire
when it squeals round a curve.
With complex diagrams demon
strating the weight, the push, the
pull on a tire, the conclusion
was reached that tire squeal
could not serve as any measure
Of safety in highway design. Fur
thermore. the scientists said, tire
squeal on a curve does not mean
a car Is about to skid Or has any
intention Of doing so.
Another truth appears in a
study completed on the use of
undersea breathing machines.
This note cautions the undersea,
skin diver: "The rate of ascent
should be leisurely and never
forced-don't pass your small
bubbles on ascent" The study
was an attempt by another COM
mittee Of the academy to collect
currents thinking on the some
what dangerous sport recently
become a fad. The main point
Of the study was to stimulate
more research into diving equip
ment available to the vacationer
spending most of his freedom
under water.
Big and Small Problems.
Naturally the work of the Ma
tional Academy Of Sciences the
upper crust of all scientific So
cieties- delves into problems far
more complex than tire >squeal
and swimming. But each problem
is attacked in the same way, with
the academy rounding up the
men who are In the know in GER
tain fields Of science. They are
not. however. members of the
academy necessarily.
It was an academy committee
Of scientists, who told the Com
merce Department the battery
add:tive AD-X2 was what the
Bureau Of Standards said II was.
An ther committee collected
ideas. at the request Of the Gov
eminent, on something called
the atom bomb then recon-
mended the United States should
push everything toward its de-
velopment. These are cases