MODEL RESEARCH: THE NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AERONAUTICS 1915-1958.
Throughout most of its history, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was arguably the most important and productive aeronautical research establishment in the world. This book examines the NACA as an institution, attempting to explain how and why it functioned and to evaluate it as a research organization. Although the NACA's technical achievements permeate the story, this book is not a technical history. It is primarily a political and institutional history focusing on the NACA as a model research organization. The principal themes of this story are three: First are the institutional considerations. The second theme encompasses personnel policies and how they shaped NACA research. Finally, it is shown how research equipment shaped the NACA's program fully as much as did its organization and personnel.
