The early workers in every science were in general animated by an urge to communicate their findings and thoughts to like‐minded enthusiasts. Hence arose the desire to form scientific societies, an important aspect of the so‐called scientific revolution of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. No one can question the beneficial role the great scientific academies of Europe played in all branches of science in the stimulation of theoretical, observational, and experimental research and its practical applications. Our own time has seen an enormous proliferation of scientific societies, many of them dedicated, as has been said, to the encouragement of learning more and more about less and less. The founders of the Acoustical Society of America were very wise in insisting that the Society should encompass the whole body of the science of sound, a very old discipline that makes an impact on human experience more profound and varied than almost any other worthy of the name scientific. As the Society completes its first half‐century, we can assert with some assurance and without undue smugness that it is successfully fulfilling the purpose laid down in its charter, namely, ’’to increase and diffuse the knowledge of acoustics and promote its practical applications.’’ The past is secure. The future cannot be otherwise than bright.