| Titre : |
Marine science instrumentation : proceedings of the symposium on transducers for oceanic research (volume 2) |
| Type de document : |
texte imprimé |
| Auteurs : |
Gaul, R. D., Auteur |
| Editeur : |
Plenum press |
| Année de publication : |
1963 |
| Importance : |
195 p. |
| Format : |
28 cm. |
| Langues : |
Anglais (eng) |
| Index. décimale : |
551 Géologie, météorologie, hydrologie générale |
| Résumé : |
The scope of the "Symposium on Transducers for Oceanic Research" was expressly limited to measurement devices because it seemed that transducers present the greatest technological obstacles to the advance of research in and over the ocean. It is appropriate that the second major meeting staged by the Marine Sciences Division of the Instrument Society of America should focus on the basic sensing devices in spite of the fact that national attention in oceanography, undersea warfare and marine engineering seems to be concerned with large systems and elaborate schemes. Ocean science and technology, under the pressure of practical demands for knowledge, is placing considerable stress on mental and physical resources at hand. In the final analysis scientific goals and operational concepts must recognize the limitations of tools and technology available for measurement if their planning is not to lead to frustration and failure.
Oceanography, like all other experimental sciences, requires the services of scientists and engineers from fields far removed from its basic areas of inquiry. Until fairly recently this requirement has been met by a small number of extremely versatile men who managed to design, and frequently hand-build, the apparatus they needed for their investigations. Most of the successful instruments in use today derive from this source. Present needs for instrumentation exceed the capacity of those rarely talented individuals who can bridge the gap between science and engineering with proficiency.
As the ocean research effort gains momentum organizations and professional people are moving with their talents and experience from related fields in an attempt to fill the stated needs. These same demands are pressing specialization and consequently widening the gap between people who design instruments and those who use them. Success must necessarily depend on the degree of mixing achieved. The science will not be served by conversations held exclusively among instrumentation engineers, nor are better instruments likely to appear unless scientists are continuously aware of advances in technology. Statements of needs and appreciation for the limits within which they may be satisfied are necessary before the applied scientist and engineer can offer the new measurement techniques that may make feasible previously impossible experiments. We believe that the collection of papers in this volume shows a high degree of mixing and offers a significant contribution to the fund of knowledge so essential to the advance of marine science.
During the course of the Symposium from which this volume has been drawn, one of the most successful practitioners of the art of oceanographic instrumentation remarked that he was disappointed in the number of papers describing instruments that had not yet emerged from the laboratory. His criterion for a successful paper required actual scientific data gathered with the" instrument in question and a report based only on the results of prolonged field use. No one can argue the merit of a thorough testing in the environment as a means for evaluating an instrument; neither can an instrument be considered useful until it has contributed to a successful investigation. However, the rapid expansion of effort in the marine sciences demands an early transfer of information on research and development in progress if duplication and overextension are not to cause ineffectiveness through dilution of our resources. |
Marine science instrumentation : proceedings of the symposium on transducers for oceanic research (volume 2) [texte imprimé] / Gaul, R. D., Auteur . - Plenum press, 1963 . - 195 p. ; 28 cm. Langues : Anglais ( eng)
| Index. décimale : |
551 Géologie, météorologie, hydrologie générale |
| Résumé : |
The scope of the "Symposium on Transducers for Oceanic Research" was expressly limited to measurement devices because it seemed that transducers present the greatest technological obstacles to the advance of research in and over the ocean. It is appropriate that the second major meeting staged by the Marine Sciences Division of the Instrument Society of America should focus on the basic sensing devices in spite of the fact that national attention in oceanography, undersea warfare and marine engineering seems to be concerned with large systems and elaborate schemes. Ocean science and technology, under the pressure of practical demands for knowledge, is placing considerable stress on mental and physical resources at hand. In the final analysis scientific goals and operational concepts must recognize the limitations of tools and technology available for measurement if their planning is not to lead to frustration and failure.
Oceanography, like all other experimental sciences, requires the services of scientists and engineers from fields far removed from its basic areas of inquiry. Until fairly recently this requirement has been met by a small number of extremely versatile men who managed to design, and frequently hand-build, the apparatus they needed for their investigations. Most of the successful instruments in use today derive from this source. Present needs for instrumentation exceed the capacity of those rarely talented individuals who can bridge the gap between science and engineering with proficiency.
As the ocean research effort gains momentum organizations and professional people are moving with their talents and experience from related fields in an attempt to fill the stated needs. These same demands are pressing specialization and consequently widening the gap between people who design instruments and those who use them. Success must necessarily depend on the degree of mixing achieved. The science will not be served by conversations held exclusively among instrumentation engineers, nor are better instruments likely to appear unless scientists are continuously aware of advances in technology. Statements of needs and appreciation for the limits within which they may be satisfied are necessary before the applied scientist and engineer can offer the new measurement techniques that may make feasible previously impossible experiments. We believe that the collection of papers in this volume shows a high degree of mixing and offers a significant contribution to the fund of knowledge so essential to the advance of marine science.
During the course of the Symposium from which this volume has been drawn, one of the most successful practitioners of the art of oceanographic instrumentation remarked that he was disappointed in the number of papers describing instruments that had not yet emerged from the laboratory. His criterion for a successful paper required actual scientific data gathered with the" instrument in question and a report based only on the results of prolonged field use. No one can argue the merit of a thorough testing in the environment as a means for evaluating an instrument; neither can an instrument be considered useful until it has contributed to a successful investigation. However, the rapid expansion of effort in the marine sciences demands an early transfer of information on research and development in progress if duplication and overextension are not to cause ineffectiveness through dilution of our resources. |
|
 |
Faire une suggestion
Affiner la recherche
