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9
In general, in those early days vacuum
technology was practised by scientists and
engineers who lacked training in the field
and whose main pursuits were research
and technology in other fields. Under such
circumstances, it was not too surprising
that vacuum technology came to be known
as black magic with string, varnish, sealing
wax, and all the rest. It was clear that
professionalism was lacking in the practice
of vacuum science and technology and that
there was a need for professional vacuists
and vacuum societies devoted exclusively
to this field. Because the practice of vacuum
technology encompasses all of the physical
sciences and engineering, there was no
single scientific organisation that fulfilled the
need of the vacuists.
[* See Table I for code giving peoples’ country of origin.]
The French were the first to for-
mally organise a national vacuum
society in 1945 following a sugges-
tion made by F. Holweck (F)* as
early as 1939. They were followed
by the Americans in 1953 and
the Japanese in 1958. By the mid
1960’s numerous countries had
formed independent professional
vacuum societies or national com-
mittees devoted to vacuum within
the hierarchy of their existing
national scientific organisations.
It was natural that, as national
vacuum organisations came into
existence, the leaders of these
groups began to think in broader
terms about international coopera-
tion and exchange of ideas relating
to vacuum. By the mid 1950’s there
was already considerable interac-
tion between the French, Ameri-
cans, West Germans, Japanese,
Spanish, Italians and Belgians. As
early as 1948 Robert Champeix (F),
a member of the French Vacuum
Society, proposed a plan for an
International Vacuum Conference
in 1949 or 1950, but the plan had to
be abandoned because of financial
constraints.
From left to right: Gary Jones, Walt Haas,
Mike Capano, and John Grant.
Credits to John Grant with
SSI M-Probe XPS
SUMMARY