PH Meter
Beckman's interest in electronics made him very popular within the chemistry department, as he was very skilled in building measuring instruments. He also shared his expertise with glass-blowing by teaching classes in the machine shop. With the blessing of Robert Millikan, Caltech's president, Beckman began accepting outside consulting work.
One of his clients wanted an ink that would not clog. Beckman's solution was to make it with butyric acid, a very noxious substance. Because of this ingredient, no manufacturer wanted to manufacture it, so Beckman decided to make it himself. He hired two Caltech students to help him, and started the National Inking Appliance Company. At first, he tried marketing it as a way to re-ink typewriter ribbons, but this approach was not successful.
Another client, Sunkist, was having problems with its own manufacturing process. The lemons that were not saleable as produce were made into pectin or citric acid, with sulfur dioxide used as a preservative. Sunkist needed to know what the acidity of the product was at any given time, and the methods then in use, such as litmus paper, were not working well.
Beckman invented the pH meter in 1935. Originally called the acidimeter, the pH meter is an important device for measuring the pH of a solution.
Read more about this topic: Arnold Orville Beckman
Famous quotes containing the word meter:
“His meter was bitter, and ironic and spectacular and inviting: so was life. There wasn’t much other life during those times than to what his pen paid the tribute of poetic tragic glamour and offered the reconciliation of the familiarities of tragedy.”
—Zelda Fitzgerald (1900–1948)