Civilians May Enroll In Electronics Course

In order to speed the instruction of men trained to deal with communication engineering, Professor Edwin C.Kemble, chairman of the Department of Physics, announced last night that the electronics school, heretofore open only to officers of the Army Signal Corps, will now accept Navy men and a limited number of civilians who are college graduates, or who have resigned from college.

At the same time, Professor Kemble revealed that from now on mathematics courses will be required with Physics B and C, and that Physics C and Sa will be given again this spring, at a double rate.

The announcement is as follows:

"An unprecedented demand for men trained in physics and communication engineering has followed the Japanese attack on this country. As every student knows, modern war is based to a large extent on complex electrical instruments used for the detection of enemy aircraft and warships, for the control of planes and ships, and for communications. Men are needed for the operation, repair, and development of these instruments in numbers far greater than the colleges can possibly supply. This means, first of all, men with fairly advanced training in the field of vacuum tube physics and vacuum tube engineering popularly known as 'electronics.' The estimate of 10,000 men who know their way around in this field for the needs of aircraft warning services alone during the coming year is considered conservative. The Department of Physics is besieged with requests for men for the vast program of war research, for industrial laboratories, and for essential teaching. There is also a great variety of services in which less advanced training in physics is essential.

Basic for Engineering

"Physics is basic for engineering, and for other pure sciences which have important contributions to make to the war effort. Hence there will be no waste of energy for students who master the elementary principles but eventually decide not to take advanced work in this direction.

"In view of the general situation the Department of Physics will make an all out effort to provide sound training in physics and electronics for as many men as possible. No effort will be spared to make the instruction in this field efficient and rapid.

"Fortunately the Department of Physics is well equipped in personnel and laboratory facilities for advanced instruction in electronics. For years naval officers have come to the Cruff Laboratory for advanced training in communication engineering. A special electronics school for officers of the Army Signal Corps has been in operation here since last July. Beginning February 1 this school will serve the Navy as well as the Army and will take in a limited number of civilians who have the prerequisite familiarity with alternating current electrical theory. This school is operating with new, up-to-date equipment. Its corps of 16 teachers includes not only men from our own staff, but experts from places as far away as Texas, Stockholm, and the Mcole Polytechnique at Paris. The course in this school is of three months duration and involves 86 hours a week of class-room time. It is tuition-free, but under existing regulations can be taken only by college graduates or by students who first resign from college. Men who successfully complete the work are technically qualified to apply for commission in the Army or the Navy. At the present time commissions are given only to men who are at least 21 years old and have some kind of college degree. Modification of this rule in the near future is not at all improbable.

"Training equivalent to that provided in the Army-Navy school will also be available by way of regular college courses. The backbone of this instruction is in courses 21n, 24a, 25a, and a new course in Ultra-High-Frequency Techniques, Physics 71b. The last-mentioned course is sponsored by the government. No tuition fee is charged, but as an exception to the general rule regarding Defense courses, it can be counted for academic credit if taken as a fifth course. Men who pass Physics 71b are eligible to apply for Army-Navy School. Many additional advanced courses in electronics and communication engineering for students who wish to qualify for research work are available on our regular course list. All capable men who have time for additional courses are strongly urged to take them.

To Streamline Course

Although many members of the Department are wholly or partially engaged in war research, a real effort will be made to streamline the path of the beginner who wishes to point his college course toward technical service in electronics. Tutorial work for upperclass-men is on the way out in order to make possible additional conference sections in the elementary courses. After the present classes in Physics B and Physics C have finished the year's work, the Department hopes to eliminate the anomaly of students attempting to learn physics without the basic knowledge of mathematics appropriate to the subject. Quantitative physics is inseparable from mathematics and in war-time only quantitative physics has a place. To this end Mathematics A will be required concurrently with Physics C in the future. Furthermore, plans are in the making to provide at least a half course of mathematics on a somewhat more elementary plane than Mathematics A to constitute a required supplement to Physics B. It is the hope of the Department of Physics that students in elementary mathematics courses who are also taking the revised work in elementary physics will find physics helping in mathematics as mathematics helps in physics.

"For the benefit of students who have not yet begun the subject of physics, the Department plans to repeat Course C as a full course working at double rate in the coming spring semester provided that the enrollment is sufficient to warrant the class. Students enrolling for this edition of Physics C will be required to begin Mathematics A at the same time, if they have not already begun that course. Students now taking Physics B or C who wish to go on with the subject should also begin Mathematics A in February if they have not already done so. Courses in electricity and mathematics will be available during the summer term for students of reasonable ability who finish B, C, or F in June. Men in these groups who stand ready to concentrate strongly in physics and mathematics can prepare themselves for electronics work in the Army, or the Navy, or industry by June of 1943.

"Physics 3a will be repeated in the spring semester for the benefit of men now in Course G who wish to speed their preparation in electricity. These men and those who have taken Physics 3a can take the Army course during the summer. The opening of Physics 21a and 71b during the summer is contingent on the incomplete plans of the Graduate School of Engineering.

No Easy Way Out

"In calling attention to these opportunities in physics the department has no thought of providing an easy form of war service. We believe that our country is in great danger. Work done in this department will be strenuous and exacting. We shall ask nothing impossible of our students and be believe that with the aid of a little more mathematics and more individual instruction many students now floundering in elementary physics courses can be helped to a real mastery of the subject. Nevertheless, students who are not ready to tackle a hard and difficult job with enthusiasm had better seek some other path. For those who have the necessary minimum mental capacity and ambition this work affords one of the most effective forms of service.

"Students interested in the repetition of Physics C in the spring semester are urged to communicate as promptly as possible with Mrs. D. H. Barrett, the laboratory secretary in Room 351 of the Physics Laboratories.