13. PRESENT AND FUTURE APPLICATIONS
So far we have considered what might be called the “pure” rather than the “applied” side of the study of meteorites. The investigator in any pure science asks of a new discovery, “What does this tell me about the universe? How does it better help me to understand the laws of nature?” Of the same discovery, however, the worker in an applied science will ask, “What practical use can be made of this gain in knowledge? What can it be made to do for mankind in general?”
These questions reveal a decided difference in viewpoint, but this difference does not reflect unfavorably on either class of scientists. In fact, there is a great deal of truth in the saying “Today’s pure science is tomorrow’s applied.” Actually, ways and means of taking advantage of seemingly useless scientific discoveries are constantly being found. The most famous example of this principle is the development of the atomic bomb from the results of Einstein’s researches in the abstract field of relativity. Here the seemingly mystic formula E = mc² came to have far-reaching practical applications indeed!
Meteoritics has some exceedingly practical applications. Far from being completely “out of this world”—as the recovered meteorites themselves originally were—this science has been and can be made to serve mankind in a number of rather unexpected ways. Meteoritics, the onetime “stepchild of astronomy,” is currently being regarded with ever-increasing respect by scientists and engineers working in many different fields.
Consider, first of all, the stainless steels that are so widely used in modern industry, and even the fine satin-sheen stainless “silverware” that graces our dining tables. These have wisely been patterned after a natural alloy with lasting qualities of strength, tenacity, and resistance to corrosion. This natural alloy is the one making up the iron meteorites.
Its toughness and durability became well known wherever attempts were made to section these metallic meteorites. Specially designed and extra-powerful sawing equipment is required to slice meteoritic iron, and even with it, progress is painfully slow. So astounded were those who first tried to cut iron meteorites with ordinary metal saws that one of the earliest practical results was the development of battleship armor plate composed of a commercial alloy called “meteor steel,” which mimicked the composition of the iron meteorites.
Of course, a good deal of the difficulty of sectioning meteorites arises from the fact that those doing the cutting are trying hard not to waste valuable meteoritic material. Every precaution is taken to keep the amount of “sawdust” to a minimum, for such finely ground up and contaminated meteoritic material is of little scientific use. And, in addition, scientists must guard against heating meteorites to high temperatures because such heating destroys the delicate internal structure of the masses. If these two considerations (loss of material and overheating) were unimportant, even a large meteorite could easily be divided up by use of such high-powered oxyacetylene torches as are used to dissect huge obsolete battleships.
At the Institute of Meteoritics, a thin, water-cooled blade of soft iron is driven slowly back and forth by an electric motor. Carborundum grit in water suspension is fed evenly into the narrow cut over its entire length. This grit becomes imbedded in the lower edge of the soft iron blade, which then acts as a “many-toothed” metal saw. Several meteorites can be sectioned simultaneously by this multiblade saw. In the future, such newly developed methods as high-speed particle jet streams or ultrasonic devices may be used to section meteorites both rapidly and economically.
In the field of cosmic ray studies, particularly those concerned with the protection of space travelers from harmful radiation, meteoritics can be of help. The recovered meteorites have already come through those regions that would be crossed by even the farthest-ranging spaceships. Consequently, a great deal can be learned from the study of meteorites about the intensity of the cosmic radiation that the crews of such ships must face once they get outside the earth’s protective air-shield.
The first study of this type was made in May, 1948, at the Institute for Nuclear Studies of the University of Chicago (now the Enrico Fermi Institute). Scientists made radioactivity tests on samples of the Norton County meteorite donated for this purpose by the Institute of Meteoritics and air-expressed to Chicago because of the intense interest in the radioactivity question. In October, 1949, English investigators ran similar tests at the Londonderry Laboratory for Radiochemistry, Durham, England, on samples of the freshly fallen Beddgelert, North Wales, meteorite discussed on pp. [69]-70. The results of these two pioneer studies were negative because the “Model-T” instruments available in 1948 and 1949 were not sensitive enough to detect the relatively low radioactivities present.