Resurgent Boffin

If one man ever really turned the tide of a war, a cheery Scottish scientist named Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt* might claim to be the man. Sir Robert was the principal inventor of radar. The electronic watchdogs developed by him and his fellow "boffins" (secret war scientists) won the Battle of Britain for the outnumbered R.A.F. Sir Robert got a "well done"--the Order of the Bath.

Radar ballooned in wartime into a great industry--and then collapsed just as suddenly. Few peacetime uses were found for military radars: they were not much help in navigating commercial airplanes or merchant vessels. They were also too costly, too complicated, and practically useless at very short range.

Sir Robert buckled down to designing a special merchant-ship radar. It must, he decided, be nearsighted as well as farsighted. It must be an all-weather, rugged, comparatively cheap instrument, simple enough for any competent officer to operate without a lot of special knowledge and training.

Last week in Manhattan Sir Robert showed off his latest model. Installed on the bridge of the great Queen Elizabeth, it makes wartime radar look like a dim-eyed has-been. When the Elizabeth comes up the Narrows, the "scope" shows a highly detailed map, with buildings, docks, the speedway along the Brooklyn shore. Ships lying at anchor are well-defined shapes, not mere blobs. As the big ship approaches her berth, the scope shows the dock, the ferries, even the small tugs under the Elizabeth's bows.

Out in the Atlantic, the scope is generally blank except for "clutter" from nearby waves. The captain can order full speed through the soupiest weather. Obstacles are clearly visible long before they are dangerous.

Sir Robert's new radars cannot be manufactured fast enough to suit ship owners. The price, -L-2,250 ($9,000), is a trifle compared to the cost of operating a big ship. During one extra day at sea (running slow through fog, for instance), the Elizabeth's passengers eat the worth of two radar sets. Even small ships can quickly recoup the cost of a radar in quickened voyages and reduced insurance charges.

In the back of Sir Robert's head: a "radar telescope" which will magnify on its scope any object of interest within the range of the beam. The observer at night or in fog can "tune in" a distant speck for better examination.

* No kin to James Watt, of steam-engine and kilowatt fame. "At least," says canny Sir Robert, "we never got any of his money."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.