ABSTRACT
The manufacture of robust paper for maps assumed great importance early in World War II. On the basis of information developed by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) Paper Section, the Army Map Service of the Corps of Engineers formulated specifications for paper for the printing of maps. This chapter describes the NBS' Experimental Manufacture of Paper for War Maps, relating the context in which the publication appeared, its impact on science, technology, and the general public, and brief details about the lives and work of the author. In the NBS Paper Section, this project was spearheaded by Charles G. Weber and Merle B. Shaw. They attacked the problem by preparing many batches of paper under a variety of experimental conditions on a "Fourdrinier" semi-commercial paper-making machine. One of the variables tested by NBS was the relative amount of cutting and fraying, which affect fiber strength.
