ABSTRACT
In 1930, with the Byrd expedition behind him, Lloyd Berkner spent six weeks of accrued active duty flying Naval aircraft in Panama. Then he returned to Washington, D.C., and immersed himself first in radio research and then—little by little—in organizing, coordinating, and planning cooperative research programs in that and related areas. Radio was an ideal point of entry into the world of modern science for someone with Berkner’s training and utilitarian inclinations. Although it had some roots in academic physics and engineering, the focus remained close to specific commercial and military applications and to government interest in promoting and regulating their development.
