Arcs and Sparks was the house organ of one of the two main suppliers of graphite electrodes for spectroscopists in North America in the period after World War II. The publisher started as United Carbon Products in 1946, and changed its name to Ultra Carbon in 1966; it is now the Ultra Carbon Division of Carbone America. The other major supplier was National Carbon. The products of the two suppliers were similar. They competed mainly in terms of service and good will. Arcs and Sparks was a way that Ultra Carbon sought the favor of spectroscopists.

Most house organs emphasize the company and its products. Arcs and Sparks included some material of that kind, but mainly it was about the people, places, and events of applied spectroscopy. Carl Leistner traveled to conferences and laboratories, took photos, and did interviews. He was known to almost everyone in atomic spectroscopy, and he was well liked by all who knew him.

When Leistner retired, he gave SAS a collection of many photos, only some of which were published. Mike Epstein came upon this collection in the SAS Office when he was Newsletter Editor. He scanned the photos, put them on a CD together with a few photos from other sources, and made copies for a few SAS members. Epstein also scanned a few issues of Arcs and Sparks, with my help.

I have restarted the project.  At this time, there are 35 issues on hand, with most from the collection of Sally and Bourdon Scribner.  They are being scanned and converted to searchable text, with the text and photos preserved in the original page format.  One issue is posted online (click here).  It features the First National Meeting of SAS, and an article about William F. Meggers.

More issues of Arcs and Sparks are sought, to make the collection as complete as possible.  If you  have some that are not on the list below, and are willing to lend them to be scanned, please send me an e-mail at SASNews@cloud9.net.  The issues that are on hand are listed below.