Best Mechanic

Many say that Professor Jesse W. M. DuMond of California Institute of Technology is Science's best Mechanic. Fortnight ago international physicists at Rome inspected his multiple crystal spectrometer. Last week at Pasadena the public viewed his stereofluoroscope X-ray device.

A great difficulty in studying X-ray pictures is that, like ordinary photographs, they show no depth. Stereoscopes do indicate depth, by use of two photographs taken from slightly different angles (TIME, Oct. 19). Professor DuMond gets similar effects by using two close-set X-ray tubes and viewing through an appropriate attachment the slightly different shadows each reveals.

Professor DuMond's multiple crystal spectrometer lets physicists look at electrons. The machine consists of 50 spectroscopes arranged in an arc. A crystal is placed in the range of a device and then bombarded by X-rays. The X-rays batter electrons free of their atoms. The spectrometer reveals, not exactly the electrons themselves, but splashes of energy which represent the electrons.

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