Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 48 — page 132: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION science fiction—the idea being considered by the layman to be completely crazy. These doubters may be somewhat surprised, then, to hear that a body no less august that the National Physical Laboratory (Light Division) is working in collaboration with an indus- trial firm in the production of diffraction gratings that are designed to be the first step in the setting up of an automatic factory. The theory behind this ven- ture is rather too complex to go into here, but roughly the idea is to use diffraction gratings to control the work of machine tools. It has been found that, with certain special kinds of grating, con- trol of these tools is infinitely finer than that effected by even the most experienced workman. In the automatic factory being projected, taped instructions will be fed to the machines and the degree to which they obey the instruc- tions will be watched by the gratings, and any changes necessary relayed via elec- 131 tronic devices to the power supply. ISOTOPES Though America tends, by its bigness and its tremendous resources, to out-produce Britain, this is being proved not the case where radioiso- topes are concerned. Britain it leading the world with the range and amount of these materials it is producing for international consumption. Now, the world-wide demand for British isotopes has risen to such an extent that special buildings. have been lately erected at Amersham specifi- cally to produce these valu- able research and _ control tools. The main production lines are radioactive iodine and phosphorus,’ but a con- siderable number of other radioactive elements are made, as well as an increasing range of aminoacids and pro- teins, together with animal foods containing tracer ele- ments. The effects that these isotopes will have on the pro- gress of science in laboratories comiclooks.cormn