Anti-Lag Society

P: The rare gas neon was discovered in 1898 (Ramsey & Travers of England). The neon lamp was invented in 1911 (Claude of France). Neon signs, however, did not festoon the streets of the U. S. in any numbers until the late 1929's.

P: The steam engine was hit upon by Hero of Alexandria (circa 130 B. C.), made practicable (1763-82) by James Watt, appeared on no successful locomotive until 1829 (Stephenson's "Rocket").

P: Henry Mill of England patented a typewriter in 1714, William Burt of Detroit another in 1829 and a practical machine was developed by Sholes, Glidden & Soule in 1867. The first typewriters appeared on the market in 1874.

P: The sensitivity of selenium to light was discovered in 1873 by Willoughby Smith. Restaurant and railway station doors opened by selenium cells are still novelties.

The lapse of time between a scientific discovery and its effect on everyday life is an old story which will never become wholly obsolete. To shorten that time-lag is the chief objective of an organization announced last week by a handful of high-minded Washington scientists, journalists and laymen. A Delaware-chartered corporation called Research Associates Inc., the group includes Frederick Gardner Cottrell of the U. S. Bureau of Chemistry & Soils; Chester G. Gilbert of Manhattan's Research Corp.; Physicist Frederick Sumner Brackett of the U. S. Department of Agriculture; President William McClellan of Potomac Electric Power Co.; Senior Surgeon Dr. Royd Ray Sayers and Engineer Carl E. Julihn of the U. S. Bureau of Mines; Editor Watson Davis of Science Service; Dr. William Charles White of the National Tuberculosis Association; Heber Blankenhorn, NLRB labor expert.

Research Associates Inc. expects to develop inventions, discoveries and patents of its own members, and by applying these to the betterment of the public weal to encourage further help from outsiders. The charter states that no profit may accrue to any member.

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