"That won't help. Shielding the leads only adds distributed capacity."
"It works. Only one percent loss in efficiency and better stability, believe it or not."
"Well," said Norden, "I'll leave it up to Lionel, here. What do you think?"
"I'll have to consider it," answered Lionel.
"You understand that it is important," urged Norden.
"But why?"
"Why?" exploded Norden. "Great Scott! Look Lionel, the arrangements of these knobs are such that the operator must cross the calibration-scale with his hand while adjusting the output. That means that he must either assume a cramped position or he must adjust, observe, adjust, observe, and so on, taking the adjustment of output by increments instead of a stepless arrival at the precise value."
"Um."
"Look, Lionel, we aren't toying with the job of lifting a standard weight. We are hoisting three hundred tons of semirigid structure that mustn't be joggled too much."
"I see. Well under the circumstances I'll take quick action and give you the answer within twenty-four hours."