Science: Squeezing & Shearing

If three 240-ton locomotives were piled one on top of the other and their combined weight rested on a postage stamp, the resultant pressure would be some 1,440,000 lb. per sq. in. Such a pressure, Harvard University announced last week, has been produced in its physics laboratories by stocky, soft-spoken Percy Williams Bridgman and maintained for 15 hours on a speck of graphite as big as a pinhead.

That was a special experiment. For routine high-pressure work Dr. Bridgman uses about half the maximum, working up to 720,000 lb. and then down...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!