Frank D. Lewis Oral History
This
interview is part of the
Rad Lab Collection.
Frank D.
Lewis was among the first employees to join the
Radiation Laboratory staff when Alfred Loomis'
laboratory from Tuxedo Park, NY moved to MIT.
His first position at Rad Lab was head of the
klystron group. He was later assigned to serve
as NDRC (National Defence Research Council)
liaison officer to England. He left Rad Lab before
the war's end to work as a technical advisor
in the office of the Secretary of War.
In this
interview, Lewis describes his pre-Rad Lab
experience as a graduate student under
Professor W.L. Barrow, as a participant in the
blind-landing project at MIT, and as a member of
Alfred Loomis' laboratory in Tuxedo Park. He
explains his relationship with the various
government departments and private industries (Bell
Labs, Sperry Gyroscope, RCA, and Northrup)
that he encountered as he procured klystrons.
He also discusses his personal interaction with
Kenneth Bainbridge, Harald Friis, Alfred
Loomis, Henry Loomis, and E.G. Bowen during
his tenure at Rad Lab.
Lewis
recounts the role of Alfred Loomis in the
establishment of Radiation Laboratory. He
describes the functioning of the Microwave and
Steering Committees and the manner in which
information was disseminated throughout Rad
Lab. He also discusses the wonderful resources
available for historical research at the Rad
Lab archives in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Frank
Lewis is accompanied in this interview by his wife
Celia and former Rad Lab coworker, Fred Keif.
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1
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MIT grad, had gotten a
Masters, working in microwaves, under
Professor W. L. Barrow. Worked at
blind-landing project at
MIT, 1937 to 1940.
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2
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Alfred Loomis, the
millionaire at Tuxedo Park, providing
some money for
project. Lewis was working at
Tuxedo Park. Asks
Lewis to teach his son about microwaves
while waiting for Navy tour
of duty to start. Got son, Henry
Loomis, to make diodes for
them.
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Alfred Loomis: first-class
scientific mind with a lot of
money. Called a dilettante,
unfairly.
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4
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Lewis designed the first
microwave horn before the war,
essentially as his
master’s thesis, but in the
shuffle of the war he lost the
credit for it.
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5
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Entire Tuxedo Park crew
moved by Loomis to Rad Lab. While
driving equipment, use radar in essence
as a speed gun, measuring
other cars’ speed! No more
than 5-6 people at Rad Lab when
Tuxedo Parkers show up.
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Lewis becomes liaison
between Rad Lab and other laboratories,
in government and private
industry—Sperry, Bell, RCA, etc.
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7
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Sperry made spurious
invention claims, wholesale, for any
part of war work not tied to
the floor. Lewis finds records to
prove they’re making
bogus claims.
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8
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Officially head of klystron
group, getting klystrons from
California. Transferred out of HQ
ultimately, because doesn’t
have PhD, and people are status
conscious about credentials.
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9
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To England early in 1941, to
be liaison to British on microwave
power sources. There for most of
two years. Left
because he and his boss couldn’t
stand each other.
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To Northrop, where they are
trying to build a night-fighter with
microwave parts. Only
non-government employee
overseeing. A brief appointment.
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To Secretary of War’s
office, as expert on radio
countermeasures. Helping experts
get acquainted with field,
smoothing ruffled feathers, same as at
Rad Lab. All his
liaison work involved getting every
expert’s niche knowledge and
passing it on to whoever needed
it. An information conduit.
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Informal organization at Rad
Lab the early years Lewis was there.
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After war: to General Radio
Company.
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