ABSTRACT
The locus of light measurement was changing. From small darkened rooms hissing with gas supplies, to busier rooms humming with transformers, to larger, well lit rooms buzzing with people: practice became tied to committees, commissions and delegations. This more public activity was different. Although drawing upon many of the same individuals as did the earlier associations and institutions, these new groupings fostered contention. The delegated bodies more often sought to operate by consensus than by hierarchical decisionmaking and were more goal oriented1. But as heterogeneous bodies bringing together different scientific and engineering cultures, they confronted differing worldviews.
