The Present Status of Standards in the Electrical Industry
Cameron Skinner · The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science · 1928
T HE electrical industry, while less than half a century old, is one of our greatest industries and its phenomenal rise has been due in no small measure to the early adoption of fundamental standards. It is an outstanding example of the fact that proper standardization does not hinder but aids development. In every industry, and particularly in those which undergo rapid development, a very wide variety of devices, methods and practices are tried out, before the survival of the fittest indicates the direction which detailed standardization should take. It is of incalculable benefit, however, to such an industry to have the fundamentals underlying that industry stabilized by standardization at an early date. Fortunately for the electrical industry, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers early undertook such standardization, organizing their first Standards Committee in the year of 1898. Their early work was devoted to the arriving at standards governing the basis of rating, basis of test requirements and similar items.