Spectral lines: Where do we go from here?

Those faithful Spectrum readers who are unfortunate enough not to be regular subscribers to the Proceedings of the IEEE missed a fascinating issue of that journal, the September issue, devoted to “Two Centuries in Retrospect.” A joint venture of engineers and historians, the guest editors, J. D. Ryder and J. E. Brittain, identify it as an experiment in intellectual collaboration that was made possible by a singular conjunction of circumstances and personalities that might itself someday be studied by historians.